Far-right memes: undermining and far from recognizable
Far-right memes are hardly punishable, and online content management is also difficult, concludes the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCCS) in “Memes as an online weapon: An analysis of the use of memes by the far right”. Intentions and effects of far-right memes are difficult to demonstrate, but in the meantime they do contribute to the normalization of far-right ideology, (online) group and identity formation, and in an occasional case serve as a possible inspiration for violence. These undesirable developments can undermine the functioning of our democratic legal order and national security. It is therefore necessary to recognize far-right memes, understand their operation, and make our society more resilient against their effect.
What are far-right memes?
A meme is an idea, expression or opinion captured in text or visual material such as a photo, video or gif file with or without text or sound, which is copied and distributed online. Most memes are funny and harmless, but they can also serve as a tool to spread far-right messages in an approachable way, while avoiding that it is recognized as such. In particular, memes allow the far right to reach young people who would otherwise not be reached.
Far-right memes thrive on the internet
Far-right memes exist in abundance on the internet and are spread from far-right online subculture onto various social media platforms. The more content moderation takes place on a platform, the more subtle the far-right message is packaged in the meme. Only then can a meme with a far-right message reach the larger platforms, bypass moderation and ultimately appeal to a larger audience. In contrast, explicit messages and violent memes regularly appear in closed right-wing extremist online groups that lack moderation.
The functions of memes
Extreme right-wing memes have four functions: entertaining, informative, recruiting and extremist. Entertaining far-right memes seem harmless, but the message in the meme often is not. Informative memes are mainly used within the group as an alert to new facts or publications. Recruiting memes contain propaganda or references to other platforms to interest people, especially young people, in far-right messages and lure them to far-right groups. Extremist memes also promote and glorify extremist acts. Recognizing these functions helps to assess whether a meme is undesirable or harmful and to better understand why certain memes are spread.