White Nationalists on Twitter Have Grown 600 Percent Since 2012, Study Finds - Polidicks

[quote]The number of white nationalists and self-identified Nazi sympathisers on Twitter have multiplied more than 600 per cent in the last four years, outperforming the so-called Islamic State (Isis) in everything from follower counts to number of daily tweets, a new study found. Researchers at George Washington University’s Programme on Extremism analyzed 18 accounts belonging to major white nationalist groups and organisations – such as the American Nazi Party and the National Socialist Movement – mostly located in the US These accounts saw a sharp increase in followers, from about 3,500 in 2012 to 22,000 in 2016. The study notes that while Isis stood out for its outreach and recruitment using Twitter since the group’s emergence a few years ago, white nationalist groups have excelled in the medium. [/quote] [URL]http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/white-nationalist-movement-twitter-faster-growth-isis-islamic-state-study-a7223671.html[/URL]

If you make opposition impossible, opposition becomes inevitable. I dare claim this is an eventual result from twitters draconian speech policing... Once you disenfranchise the centrists, they and extremists will fraternise and the dividing lines tend to blend.

[QUOTE=Blizzerd;51000383]Once you disenfranchise the centrists, they and extremists will fraternise and the dividing lines tend to blend.[/QUOTE] The implication being that those left of center disenfranchised centrists and everyone else right of center? European countries have been predominantly ruled by centre-right and right-wing parties before, during, [del]and after[/del] the crisis.

Internet echo chambers sure did enable far-right to raise. In actual public spaces, they'd be shut down by public pressure and never allowed to grow.

[QUOTE=phaedon;51000409]The implication being that those left of center disenfranchised centrists and everyone else right of center? European countries have been predominantly ruled by centre-right and right-wing parties before, during, [del]and after[/del] the crisis.[/QUOTE] 'Centre-right' politics is rapidly becoming seen as a 'left-wing' ideology because of its focus on globalisation and an opposition to nationalism. I think the left-right divide might well be changing.

Kinda funny/ironic/weird that it's only because of safe space mentalities on the part of the white nationalists, that they're able to have this resurgence at all.

Is it a rise of White nationalist? Or is it people just saying shit to get reactions? I'm not saying its 100% But you know a good amount of them have to be trolls, I mean, come on, what gets reactions from people then saying racist shit?

[QUOTE=Intoxicated Spy;51000441]Is it a rise of White nationalist? Or is it people just saying shit to get reactions? I'm not saying its 100% But you know a good amount of them have to be trolls, I mean, come on, what gets reactions from people then saying racist shit?[/QUOTE] Or is it people becoming more sensitive to "offences"?

[QUOTE=Jamsponge;51000424]'Centre-right' politics is rapidly becoming seen as a 'left-wing' ideology because of its focus on globalisation and an opposition to nationalism. I think the left-right divide might well be changing.[/QUOTE] I think that at least for now, that's only the case for the far-right. It's similar to how some PiS supporters describe their opposition as commies, even though you know, Poland is pretty right-wing in general. I think that it's a way to say stuff that were traditionally recognized as extremist or radical, and normalize them by a) describing yourself as a moderate right-winger, b) escalating from dogwhistling to more overt exposition of their positions becoming the new normal. Though I would agree that the political landscape in Europe might be changing overall. The centre-left has been a joke for a while, and they are generally losing support, and imho the more radical leftist parties are all bark and no bite. Also, a lot of them are just... err, bizarre and not a can of worms you want to open right now.

[QUOTE=Blizzerd;51000446]Or is it people becoming more sensitive to "offences"?[/QUOTE] You're blaming people getting offended over racism and discrimination from white nationalists as the reason for their rise? That sounds like 'victim blaming' more than anything. Yeah sure, there are some people out there who get offended a lot of stupid shit - but the vast majority of people don't.

I have been watching political movements around the world, and it seems that everyday, atleast in the Western world, groups are becoming far more radicalized, whether or not they are left or right. It worries me to think that it may only be a matter of time before we see more Greensboros across my own country. People are just getting way to violent with politics.

What are Greenboros? The only result that seems to be relevant was [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensboro_sit-ins"]this.[/URL] Considering that was a non-violent protest sit-in for civil rights, I'm not sure what you're worried about?

[QUOTE=BlackMageMari;51000514]What are Greenboros? The only result that seems to be relevant was [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensboro_sit-ins"]this.[/URL] Considering that was a non-violent protest sit-in for civil rights, I'm not sure what you're worried about?[/QUOTE] [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensboro_massacre]More talking about this.[/url] Basically when two different worlds of radicals collide.

That's what happens when you have people purposely setting out to hate a US president just because he's black. The Obama opposition in Congress is pretty much just helping to legitimize all these people.

I see so many of these people on twitter too. They often track tags of current events so you see them a lot. Quite a bit in the "anime twitter" groups as well

[QUOTE=BlackMageMari;51000465]You're blaming people getting offended over racism and discrimination from white nationalists as the reason for their rise? That sounds like 'victim blaming' more than anything. Yeah sure, there are some people out there who get offended a lot of stupid shit - but the vast majority of people don't.[/QUOTE] What if part of the group that makes up the 600% increase would not have been classified as white nationalists 10 years ago, but as the criteria that make you a racist hitler-glorifying white nationalist devil become "wider" more people are classified as part of the group?

[QUOTE=momoiro;51000630]What if part of the group that makes up the 600% increase would not have been classified as white nationalists 10 years ago, but as the criteria that make you a racist hitler-glorifying white nationalist devil become "wider" more people are classified as part of the group?[/QUOTE] No where is it mentioned that the definition of these people have changed. I mean, we're talking about [I]self-identifying[/I] white nationalists here, not people who have been 'labeled' this. I don't see your point.

[QUOTE=momoiro;51000630]What if part of the group that makes up the 600% increase would not have been classified as white nationalists 10 years ago, but as the criteria that make you a racist hitler-glorifying white nationalist devil become "wider" more people are classified as part of the group?[/QUOTE] It's usually very obvious from twitter bios and such. I collect a lot of these to laugh at. you see a lot of "Pro-white", "fighting white genocide" or "white nationalist" in their profiles to make it very clear. Even the American Nazi Party on twitter has 10k followers.

[QUOTE=CroGamer002;51000411]Internet echo chambers sure did enable far-right to raise. In actual public spaces, they'd be shut down by public pressure and never allowed to grow.[/QUOTE] I'd rarher say it's a counter reaction to the far-left being very vocal and influencial in the 00's and early 10s

[QUOTE=Blizzerd;51000446]Or is it people becoming more sensitive to "offences"?[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=SirJon;51000717]I'd rarher say it's a counter reaction to the far-left being very vocal and influencial in the 00's and early 10s[/QUOTE] It's silly to blame the extremes on one side for the extremes on the other when you have absolutely no proof. Without evidence it just sounds like you're picking whatever side annoys you most to blame everything on. It could well be that you're just more aware of one side over the other because of the circles you move in or your own personal views.

[QUOTE=BlackMageMari;51000465]You're blaming people getting offended over racism and discrimination from white nationalists as the reason for their rise? That sounds like 'victim blaming' more than anything. Yeah sure, there are some people out there who get offended a lot of stupid shit - but the vast majority of people don't.[/QUOTE] I was trying to say maybe there is no rise, just a rise in reporting behavior as "racist"... im just speculating here, hence the question mark.

[QUOTE=SirJon;51000717]I'd rarher say it's a counter reaction to the far-left being very vocal and influencial in the 00's and early 10s[/QUOTE] vocal maybe, but hardly influential.

[QUOTE=shozamar;51000771]It's silly to blame the extremes on one side for the extremes on the other when you have absolutely no proof. Without evidence it just sounds like you're picking whatever side annoys you most to blame everything on. It could well be that you're just more aware of one side over the other because of the circles you move in or your own personal views.[/QUOTE] One extreme has always bred the other, and they are both terrible. [editline]4th September 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Bobie;51000929]vocal maybe, but hardly influential.[/QUOTE] There was a time where even on facepunch you'd get banned for saying "black" instead of afro-american.

[QUOTE=SirJon;51001083] There was a time where even on facepunch you'd get banned for saying "black" instead of afro-american.[/QUOTE] was there

A lot of the west is going radically right and it's pretty awful. We're seeing it in elections in Europe and the United States and the sentiment is becoming really clear on a lot of spots of the internet. Used to be most of the worst was confined to the darker spots of the internet and you didn't hit too much awful stuff unless you went looking for it / was on AOL news or whatever. Now Reddit, Youtube, Facepunch, basically any online community with a decent following and you're going to run into a lot of alt-right loons.

[QUOTE=SirJon;51000717]I'd rarher say it's a counter reaction to the far-left being very vocal and influencial in the 00's and early 10s[/QUOTE] Which far-left parties rose to power during that period, and how many new far-left parties entered national parliaments? I can only think of SYRIZA for the former, and Podemos for the latter.

[QUOTE=KillRay;51001187]was there[/QUOTE] was fp even around in 2000? [URL="https://facepunch.com/member.php?u=56958"]i mean ive been on fp for over 10 years [/URL] and ive never seen that once. been banned loads of times for saying nigger though

It was TH89 who did that. He's gone now.

[QUOTE=KillRay;51001187]was there[/QUOTE] I can't recall that being the case at any point since I joined. But what do I know, this guy apparently joined in 2016, so either he really doesn't know what he's talking about or else he may be more experienced with bans than you'd assume from his join date.

[QUOTE=Teddybeer;51001579]-snip-[/QUOTE] It looks like you included just EU countries, except Croatia? Croatia, Andorra, Bosnia, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine have right-wing governments. Iceland, Moldova, Montenegro, San Marino, FYROM and Switzerland have coalitions but are predominantly right-wing, Serbia is a right-left coalition and Montenegro has one of a left-leaning party and two smaller right-leaning ones,. Albania has a left-wing government and Belarus is a communist dictatorship. Within the EU, the Estonian Reform Party is marked in your list as a centre-left one, but unless I am incorrect, it's a centre-right party, and is in a coalition with two other parties (a right-wing one and a left-wing one). Finland is also predominantly right-wing, as it's ruled by a centrist, and two right-wing parties. Bulgaria and Germany are grand coalitions between two right-wing parties and a left-wing one, Latvia has a coalition between two right-wing parties and a centrist one. Luxembourg is a right-wing party with two left-wing ones. Romania has an independent President and PM, but the President was supported by the right-wing. Slovenia is a coalition between a right-wing, a centrist and a left-wing party. Austria is a coalition with a left-wing and a right-wing party, the Czech Republic is a coalition of a left-wing part, with a centrist and a right-wing party. Greece is a coalition of a left-wing party with a smaller right-wing one. Italy is a left-wing coalition with three right-wing parties. Lithuania is another left-wing party with a centrist, and two right-wing parties. Slovakia is a coalition of a left-wing party with three right-wing ones. The Netherlands is another right-left coalition, and Portugal has a minority left-wing government. The European Parliament governing coalition has two right-wing parties (EPP and ALDE) along with a leftist one (S&D). In total, there are 444 right-leaning seats and 291 left-leaning ones. For easier reading, here's a [url=http://pastebin.com/K4NbLs3x]pastebin[/url] with the parties divided as right, centre, left.