Introduction

Though the focus of this introductory chapter is on the far-right communities, their media channels, and strategies of spreading hate due to their relevance to the national contexts examined in this study, there are many other online groups that are actively involved in spreading hate. For example, the ultranationalist Hindus and many other online populist groups in the Philippines, Brazil, and Israel play similar roles due to the influence of political ideologies. In this chapter, I offer some details about the meme warfare that is waged by the far-right and how this is linked to a perceived cultural war between progressive ideas versus conservative thought. I also discuss the different ways hate is manifested online, especially through humor, and how online trolling is pervasive and networked.