Far-right conspiracy groups on fringe platforms: a longitudinal analysis of radicalization dynamics on Telegram

Schulze, Heidi; Hohner, Julian; Greipl, Simon; Girgnhuber, Maximilian; Desta, Isabell; Rieger, Diana

doi:10.1177/13548565221104977

Cited by 49 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…A troubling parallel between Querdenken and PEGIDA is their collective identity of standing against the mainstream, which is not necessarily a right-wing stance but leaves them susceptible to right-wing radicalization (Koos, 2021;Nachtwey et al, 2020). An initial content analysis of three Querdenken Telegram channels between March 2020 and February 2021 revealed a steep increase in the prevalence of conspiracy narratives, anti-elitism, and calls for activism, indicating a radicalization dynamic within Querdenken's inward-oriented communication (Schulze et al, 2022). While we know core topics, actors, and goals for the far right (see Caiani et al, 2012;Mudde, 2016), these are not clearly defined yet for Querdenken mobilizers.…”

Section: Formation Of Far-right Network: First Pegida Now Querdenken?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Aside from the problematic composition of Querdenken protests, the movement’s increasingly radicalizing inward-oriented communication (Holzer, 2021; Schulze et al, 2022) and polarizing outward-oriented communication pose a threat to German society (Kaiser & Rauchfleisch, 2019). For protesters and leaders of the Querdenken movement, the messenger service Telegram—with its public broadcasting channels that allow unlimited numbers of subscribers—is their most important tool for inward-oriented communication (Holzer, 2021; Koos, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To shed light on the assumption that Querdenken’s network of message circulation is indeed a gateway to far-right attitudes (Koos, 2021) and to expand upon previous research (Holzer, 2021; Schulze et al, 2022), we asked, ( RQ2) What topics are discussed in the public Telegram channels of the Querdenken sphere, and how have they changed over time?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

German Corona Protest Mobilizers on Telegram and Their Relations to the Far Right: A Network and Topic Analysis

Zehring

Domahidi

2023

Social Media + Society

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The Querdenken movement, the leading force behind German corona protests, is suspected of being a gateway to far-right attitudes due to radicalizing inward-oriented communication on Telegram. To investigate potential connections of this movement to the far right and alternative media—and to explore key topics of the Querdenken network over time—we analyzed 6,294,955 messages from 578 public Telegram channels via network analysis and structural topic modeling. This analysis revealed that Querdenken’s subcommunities preferably forward content from far-right and QAnon communities, while far-right and conspiracy theorist alternative media channels act as content distributors for the movement. Four main topics appeared in the Querdenken network with varying prevalence over time and across different communities: promotion, QAnon, right-wing populism, and COVID-19 conspiracy theories. Our results highlight potential directions for future research and practical implications, for example, that political decision makers should account for the increasing influence of the QAnon movement on Querdenken mobilizers’ Telegram activity.

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Section: Formation Of Far-right Network: First Pegida Now Querdenken?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

German Corona Protest Mobilizers on Telegram and Their Relations to the Far Right: A Network and Topic Analysis

Zehring

Domahidi

2023

Social Media + Society

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“…Last but not least, Schulze et al. ( 2022 ) performed a quantitative study about radicalization dynamics in Telegram during COVID-19 protests in Germany, where authors analyzed the contest of nine Telegram channels.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Akbari and Gabdulhakov (2019) analyzed the role of the platform during the protests in Iran and how the government demanded information and private messages from Pavel Durov. Last but not least, Schulze et al (2022) performed a quantitative study about radicalization dynamics in Telegram during COVID-19 protests in Germany, where authors analyzed the contest of nine Telegram channels.…”

Section: The Role Of Telegram In Protestsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differentiable characteristics of Telegram mediums during protests in Belarus 2020

Slobozhan

Brik

Sharma

2023

Soc. Netw. Anal. Min.

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Online activism has been pivotal for anti-government protests all around the world. A lot of existing research studies how people use social media to mobilize and coordinate protests. However, some platforms offer more than one kind of medium for communication, in particular, Telegram. We found that a lot of research literature focuses on either one or another medium or sometimes merges them together. In this research, we performed a comparative analysis of three communication mediums in this platform: channels, groups, and local chats during protests in Belarus in 2020. We first collected a dataset which follows six months of protest, which allows us to study the temporal variation of online activism. We find that in Telegram, these three modes of communication are not equally important. Furthermore, they are responsible for different types of communication. For example, in groups, people discuss significant protests that occurred nationwide. In comparison, people discuss local and small demonstrations and protests in chats. Finally, Telegram channels are very distinct from local chats and channels in terms of content. Our finding suggests that future research should consider these modes of the communication independently rather than blending them.

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Alt‐health influencers and the threat of social media deplatforming

Zimdars

2024

Asso for Info Science & Tech

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The threat of deplatforming as a content moderation strategy works to reduce harmful anti‐vaccine content and health mis/disinformation on particular social media platforms. However, through an analysis of alt‐health influencers, I show how the perpetual threat of being deplatformed allows them to strategically grow their audiences while funneling users to fringe platforms where the alt‐health influencers share anti‐vaccine and extremist content. Alt‐health influencers are thus able to “launder” their reputations and their content through mainstream social media platforms, acting in accordance with each platform's specific content moderation policies, while persuasively deploying “deep stories” and developing parasocial relationships across mainstream and fringe platforms, building an alt‐health influence network across platforms, and using threats of “censorship” on one platform to sell and legitimize their statuses as truth‐tellers and informational authorities on another. The threat of deplatforming aids in the spreading of health mis/disinformation across social media platforms, demonstrating the necessity of addressing well‐known alt‐health influencers who are detrimental to the health of the overall information ecosystem through decisive, consistent, and multi‐platform‐coordinated deplatforming.

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Far-right conspiracy groups on fringe platforms: a longitudinal analysis of radicalization dynamics on Telegram

Cited by 49 publications

References 60 publications

German Corona Protest Mobilizers on Telegram and Their Relations to the Far Right: A Network and Topic Analysis

German Corona Protest Mobilizers on Telegram and Their Relations to the Far Right: A Network and Topic Analysis

Differentiable characteristics of Telegram mediums during protests in Belarus 2020

Alt‐health influencers and the threat of social media deplatforming

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