The Far-Right Online Communities and the Dissemination of Hate

This chapter empirically examines the multimodal discourses of far-right groups on social media like Telegram, Instagram, and Twitter. For example, many fringe groups find Telegram a convenient platform to spread hate speech without the need to censor their content or fear being blocked from the platform. This study collected all the posts from 15 far-right Telegram channels. The data were analyzed using a mixed-method approach, including an examination of profile images, hashtags, mentions, and emojis that have been weaponized to assist in hate dissemination. The findings show that one major theme on Telegram revolves around white peoples’ perceived grievances and discussions on conservatism followed by the minorities as the problem. This chapter also discusses another far-right community, Kekistani, that is active on other social media sites like Instagram and Twitter. This online community uses highly divisive language in promoting white supremacy through targeted memes.