During this period, we observed hate communities focused on recent Stop the Steal and pro-Trump protests in Georgia. Posts from accounts that promoted the Nov 14 Washington DC protests have now started posting about Georgia and were then amplified by hate communities this week, and Georgia was the most mentioned location by hate communities during this period, compared to other states like Michigan, Pennsylvania or Nevada and Washington DC.
Voter fraud narratives about Georgia received many shares among these communities during this period. The Coosa Valley News reported that a recount in Floyd County, Georgia, resulted in over 3,000 additional votes being added to the original count. The article was shared 18,712 times among hate communities. Another article, shared 11,610 times and used to push voter fraud disinformation, was published by a high-profile conspiracy website that claimed that witnesses in a Georgia count centre saw “Trump votes counted for Biden”.
Hate communities were also active in amplifying footage from a Stop the Steal protest in Atlanta on November 18. In particular, they shared footage that featured conspiracy theorist Alex Jones speaking at demonstrations outside the State Capitol building. As campaigns around the January 5 Senate runoff elections gained momentum, our analysis also captured hate communities amplifying posts from conservative activists like Ali Alexander and Scott Presler who are organising ongoing Stop the Steal protests in the state. As the runoff election in January approaches, we will be monitoring for militia and extremist activity.
Nick Fuentes, America First Advocate, Finds Support With Anti-GOP Tirades
Right-wing activist and influencer Nick Fuentes has heavily promoted the Stop the Steal movement and supported claims that President Trump was illegitimately robbed of the presidency. On his own online channels and in various clips with other right-wing influencers like Alex Jones, Fuentes has targeted the Republican Party for not supporting the president sufficiently and has singled out figures like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, former US ambassador to the UN Nikky Haley and Rep. Dan Crenshaw in particular.
During this period, far-right communities amplified posts and content featuring Fuentes speaking at recent Stop the Steal protests. Fuentes also found much support among Groyper communities, a loose collective of alt-right activists he helped to found in 2019. Support for Fuentes is notable as he is becoming a leading voice among pro-Trump right-wing groups who are vocally hostile to the GOP.
Fuentes spoke with Alex Jones at a Stop the Steal protest on November 19 and said “What we did not count on is that within our own Republican Party there are elements working to sabotage President Trump and the will of the American people”. The clip was shared 410 times among our observed communities, while another clip, shared 284 times, featured Fuentes speaking in Georgia where he claimed that Democrats have been rigging elections for years and that “when Republicans get into office, they betray us every single time”. A different clip that showed Fuentes arriving at the Georgia State Capitol in an Infowars-branded pickup truck was shared 213 times by far-right communities.
In the week after Election Day, Fuentes posted a number of times claiming that the state of Israel had conspired against President Trump and supported Joe Biden. The posts were then amplified by antisemitic communities. In one of these posts, Fuentes posted a screenshot of a tweet by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulating Biden and Vice President-elect Sen. Kamala Harris on their victory. Fuentes said it “looks like the Groypers were right about Israel”.
Antisemitic, Far-Right Communities Promote Claims that Antifa is a Jewish Organisation
Between November 12-19, our analysis captured a total of 1,554 posts, comments and tweets by hate actors across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Reddit discussing the Jewish community. These primarily originated from far-right communities (31%) and QAnon communities (17%).
During this period, antisemitic and far-right communities pushed the claim that antifa, the loose collection of left-wing anti-fascist groups active in the US and internationally, is a Jewish organistion. The origin of this can be traced back to a video, posted on Twitter by Matthew Miller, a journalist with the right-wing media site Post Millennial, that showed a protester in Washington DC carrying a flag with a logo for “antifa” and “Jewish anti-fascist action”. The person was videoed participating with Black Lives Matter activists during a counter-protest against right-wing groups in Washington DC on November 14.
The video clip was shared 290 times among our observed communities and was the basis for claims that antifa is a Jewish organisation. One prominent antisemitic account, with over 35,000 followers, shared the video and said “antifa is a Jewish organisation. Not white”. This was shared 191 times by the hate communities we are observing. The footage was also used to push adjacent conspiracies about Jewish people, such as ones linking Jewish people to Communism.”.
Beyond our observed communities, the footage has been used to push antisemitic tropes in other online spaces. Two uploads of the footage on the video platform Bitchute, known for hosting extremist material, have been viewed over 3,500 times in the past week. Narratives that seek to smear the Jewish community or push false claims about antifa are common among hate communities, though this represents a notable attempt to blur the lines between the two and incite hatred and conspiracies against both groups.
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