Hosting the 'Holohoax': a Snapshot of Holocaust Denial Across Social Media

Home , Conspiracy (civil), Conspiracy theory, Denying the Holocaust, Holocaust denial, QAnon

COVID-19 disinformation briefingISD Briefing No.2 HostingFar-right the m ‘Holohoax’obilisation

10th9th August April 2020 2020 COVIDHosting-19 the disinformation ‘Holohoax’: A Snapshotbriefing of Holocaust no. 2 Denial Across Social Media Far-rightJakob Guhl mobilisation & Jacob Davey

This is the second in a series of briefings from ISD’s Digital Research Unit on the information ecosystem around coronavirus (COVID-19). These briefings expose how Executivetechnology platformsSummary are being used to promote disinformation, hate, extremism and authoritarianism in the context of COVID-19. It is based on ISD’s mixture of natural Overviewlanguage processing, network analysis and ethnographic online research. This briefing Holocaustfocuses denialon the has way long far-right been one groups of the most and insidious individuals conspiracy are mobilising theories targeting around Jewish COVID-19 in communities,the with US. its The extremist first proponents briefing drawnin the from series across can the be ideological found on spectrum, ISD’s website. from extreme right-wing to hard left to Islamist. Research has shown that digital platforms have only served to amplify and mainstream this warped strain of thinking inTop recent Lines years.1

ThisFar-right briefing groups paper andprovides individuals a snapshot are of Holocaust denialAntisemitic content acrossspeech major and social ideas media are beingplatforms. Byopportunistically analysing the term using ‘holohoax’, the ongoingwhich is commonly usedadapted by Holocaust to incorporate deniers, this COVID-19: paper examines the extent to which Holocaust denial content is readily accessible across Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and pandemic to advance their movements and YouTube. Although this study does not set out to provide• Olda comprehensive antisemitic tropes overview of ‘blood of the libel’ phenomenon, relating to itideologies: reveals important insights about how Facebook and Twitterfalse provideclaims of a homeritualistic to an sacrifice established are being and activefused community• COVID-19 isof an Holocaust increasingly deniers. important While Holocausttopic within denial withis present a wide on range Reddit, of conspiracy our research theories suggests which are thatfar-right such activitycommunities. has been Mentions reduced of through ‘corona-chan’, a combinationemerging of moderation around COVID-19.efforts and pushback from othera slang users. term This for paper COVID-19 also demonstratespopular with far-right how appropriately• This applieddiscussion content has grown moderation significantly policies can be effectivegroups andin denying individuals dangerous have increased conspiracy significantly theorists a publicthroughout platform the by pandemic.examining how Holocaust denial contentacross hasmainstream decreased and significantly fringe social in media the past year on YouTube. platforms. QAnon conspiracy theorists are Key Findings • COVID-19 is being used as a ‘wedge issue’ to capitalising on the pandemic: Ourpromote research conspiracy illustrates theories, how target Holocaust minority denial content is readily accessible across communities, and call for extreme violence. • QAnon influencers are using the pandemic to Facebook, Reddit and Twitter: increase their reach online. •COVID-19 We identified is being 36 Facebook used to pagesadvance and groups,calls which• areProponents either specifically of the far-right dedicated QAnon to conspiracy Holocaust theory are advancing a wide range of different fordenial the ‘boogaloo’ or which host – anHolocaust extreme denial right-wing content. The pages and groups investigated were ideologically diverse, with 9 hosting extreme-right communities, 7 anti-Zionistnarratives off communities, the back of 13the conspiracyCOVID-19 pandemic, meme referring to an impending civil war: theorist communities, 5 pro-Palestine communities, 1including an Islamist the community idea that the and pandemic 1 a Christian is being • Whilecommunity. some of these calls appear to be ironic, orchestrated to manipulate US politics; is a others should be recognised as legitimate security bioweapon; that there is a hidden cure for the • The Facebook pages and groups have a combined number of followers of 366,068 and an average threats. virus; and that it is being utilised to implement number of members of 10,168. • Discussions of the ‘boogaloo’ are increasingly martial law. • pivotingWe also towardsidentified the 2,300 ways thepieces COVID-19 of content mentioning ‘holohoax’ on Reddit, 19,000 pieces of content on pandemicTwitter, and provides 9,500 piecesan opportunity of content for on violence. YouTube, all created between 1 June 2018 and 22 July 2020. • This conversation is taking place across Ourmainstream analysis and highlights fringe social how media. Holocaust denial content is actively recommended through Facebook’s• This trend has algorithm: already manifested into real-world violence, with one alleged white supremacist • terroristUsing a dying‘snowball’ after discovery shootouts method with the we FBI. found that when a user follows public pages containing Holocaust denial content, Facebook actively promotes further Holocaust denial content to that user.

Shifts in a platform’s terms of service9th are Aprileffective 2020 at limiting the spread of Holocaust denial content: • By analysing the useCOVID of the term ‘holohoax’-19 we disinformation found that the spread of Holocaust denial content dropped significantly on YouTube following changes to their terms of service in 2019. If other platforms adopt similar policies then this wouldbriefing likely limit the spread no. of such 2 material. • While the number of posts on Reddit mentioning the term ‘holohoax’ has not decreased over the past two years, there are a number of factors that limit the visibility of Holocaust denial on Reddit, such as banning of subreddits dedicated to Holocaust denial, moderators deleting comments and pushback from other users. Far-right mobilisation

BackgroundThis is the second in a series of briefings from ISD’s Digital Research Unit on the Holocaustinformation denial isecosystem discourse which around seeks coronavirus to deny the reality (COVID-19). and extent Theseof the genocide briefings of the expose Jews by how thetechnology Nazis in World platforms War II.2 Such are discourse being used has been to promoteused since thedisinformation, 1940s as a means hate, of attacking extremism Jews. and Contemporary Holocaust denial is propagated by individuals adhering to a range of extremist world views includingauthoritarianism the extreme right in theand hardcontext left, ofand COVID-19.has become interwovenIt is based withon ISD’sa number mixture of antisemitic of natural conspiracylanguage theories. processing, This speech network seeks analysis not only to and minimise ethnographic the suffering online of Jews research. during the ThisHolocaust, briefing but tofocuses mitigate oncriticism the way of Nazism, far-right and justifygroups ongoing and individuals attacks against are the mobilising Jewish people. around Due to COVID-19 the intimate in intersection thebetween US. TheHolocaust first denialbriefing and hatein thetargeting series Jews, can such be contentfound shouldon ISD’s be regardedwebsite. as inherently antisemitic.3

The legal status of Holocaust denial activities differsTop Linesmarkedly across global contexts, as well as in the different terms of use of private technology companies dealing with user-generated content. Holocaust denialFar-right is illegal groups in a number and individuals of European are countries, Austria,Antisemitic Belgium, the speech Czech Republic, and ideas France, are Germany,being Liechtenstein,opportunistically Lithuania, using the theNetherlands, ongoing Poland, Romania,adapted Slovakia, to incorporateSpain and Switzerland, COVID-19: as well as in Israel. The enforcement of these laws differs between contexts.4 Holocaust denial is protected from pandemic to advance their movements and Old antisemitic tropes of ‘blood libel’ relating to prosecution in the US. • ideologies: false claims of ritualistic sacrifice are being fused with a wide range of conspiracy theories which are The• COVID-19 policies isof an private increasingly social media important companies, topic within many of which are based in the US, diverge on actions emerging around COVID-19. takenfar-right against communities. Holocaust denial.Mentions Facebook of ‘corona-chan’, and Twitter do not specifically act against content and those This discussion has grown significantly promotinga slang term Holocaust for COVID-19 denial. popularAt its heart, with this far-right approach is• based on a conceptual blind-spot, whereby platformsgroups and understand individuals Holocaust have increased denial as significantly a debate simplythroughout over facts – the a problem pandemic. for misinformation andacross disinformation mainstream teams and fringeto handle. social This media perception ignores the fact that Holocaust denial is a form of antisemiticplatforms. hate speech, as well as a form of disinformation.QAnon Despite conspiracy having hate theorists speech policies are in place that• COVID-19 ban content is being that used directly as a attacks‘wedge peopleissue’ to for having anycapitalising protected characteristics,on the pandemic: which include antisemiticpromote conspiracyattacks, Holocaust theories, denial target is minority allowed largely unfettered on such platforms.5 communities, and call for extreme violence. • QAnon influencers are using the pandemic to Twitter has previously acted against accounts engaged in Holocaustincrease their denial, reach6 and online. has hate speech policies inCOVID-19 place which is includebeing used‘references to advance to mass callsmurder, violent• Proponents events, or specific of the far-right means QAnonof violence conspiracy where protected groups have been the primary targets or victims’.theory7 However, are advancing this policy a wideappears range to haveof different been for the ‘boogaloo’ – an extreme right-wing narratives off the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, builtmeme around referring instances to anwhere impending individuals civil were war: using images of Holocaust victims to explicitly attack Jewish people, rather than individuals denying the Holocaust’s occurrenceincluding theor severity. idea that8 the pandemic is being • While some of these calls appear to be ironic, orchestrated to manipulate US politics; is a Facebookothers should executives, be recognised on the other as legitimate hand, have security explicitly rationalisedbioweapon; allowing that there Holocaust is a hidden denial cure on for their the platform.threats. This was explained by Vice President for Global Publicvirus; Policyand that at Facebookit is being Joelutilised Kaplan to implement in a 2019 letter• Discussions to the chairman of the ‘boogaloo’ of the US areCommission increasingly for the Preservationmartial law.of America’s Heritage Abroad. It explained thatpivoting Facebook towards would the not ways remove the COVID-19 ‘lies or content that is inaccurate – whether it’s denying the Holocaust, thepandemic Armenian provides massacre, an opportunityor the fact that for theviolence. Syrian government has killed hundreds of thousands of its own people’.• This conversation Kaplan explained is taking that place ‘this acrossis because we do believe that people should be able to say things on Facebookmainstream that andare wrongfringe orsocial inaccurate, media. even when they are offensive’.9 Importantly, this points towards a lack• This of trenddefinitional has already nuance manifested by Facebook into real-worldwhereby its executives see Holocaust denial as a matter of historical accuracy,violence, rather with onethan alleged a specific white tool supremacist used to attack minority communities, which helps perpetuate long- standingterrorist antisemitic dying after stereotypes shootouts andwith delegitimisesthe FBI. the suffering of the Jews.10

In contrast to Facebook and Twitter, YouTube9th made April a change 2020 to its hate speech policy in June 2019,11 which specifically banned content denying that ‘well-documented violent events’ such as the Holocaust or Sandy Hook massacreCOVID took place. Similarly,-19 Reddit disinformation has introduced policies that allow the quarantining of subreddits (preventing their content from being accidentally viewed by those who do not knowingly wish to do so) that are engaged in the promotion of ‘hoaxes’ or ‘things that are either verifiable or falsifiable and not seriously up for debate’. The briefingplatform specifically no.mentions 2the Holocaust as one example of an incontestable reality.12

To better understand how Holocaust denial communities use social media platforms we examined the use of the term ‘holohoax’ Far-righton Facebook, Twitter, Reddit mobilisation and YouTube. This analysis was not intended to provide a comprehensive overview of the extent of Holocaust denial content on these platforms, but instead to give a smallThis snapshot is the illustrating second in the a easeseries with of which briefings such content from canISD’s be discoveredDigital Research across different Unit on platforms, the and the nature of Holocaust denial communities using different social media platforms. It is likely that this researchinformation merely scratches ecosystem the surface around of acoronavirus larger and more (COVID-19). pervasive phenomenon. These briefings expose how technology platforms are being used to promote disinformation, hate, extremism and Cruciallyauthoritarianism we found that changes in the contextto platform of policies COVID-19. and action It is canbased have on an ISD’simpact mixture on the prevalence of natural and ease of accessibility of Holocaust denial and antisemitism online. Following YouTube’s change of hate speechlanguage policies processing, we found a significantnetwork analysisreduction andof such ethnographic content on the online platform. research. This briefing focuses on the way far-right groups and individuals are mobilising around COVID-19 in Methodology:the OverviewUS. The first briefing in the series can be found on ISD’s website. Using the social media analysis tools CrowdTangle and Brandwatch, researchers from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) gathered posts using theTop keyword Lines ‘holohoax’ from between 1 June 2018 and 22 July 2020. We used CrowdTangle to gather relevant posts from public pages and public groups on Facebook, and BrandwatchFar-right groups to gather and relevant individuals posts from are Twitter, RedditAntisemitic and YouTube. speech and ideas are being opportunistically using the ongoing adapted to incorporate COVID-19: Thepandemic term ‘holohoax’ to advance is popular their among movements Holocaust and deniers, and was selected as it is a particularly explicit • Old antisemitic tropes of ‘blood libel’ relating to meansideologies: of denying the Holocaust. A significant amount of Holocaust denial content is couched in careful language, codes and tropes, and thus it is highly likely thatfalse this claimsanalysis of only ritualistic shows sacrifice the tip of arethe beingiceberg fused of the• COVID-19 true extent is an to increasingly which such importantcontent is topicable to within spread onwith social a wide media. range of conspiracy theories which are far-right communities. Mentions of ‘corona-chan’, emerging around COVID-19. a slang term for COVID-19 popular with far-right • This discussion has grown significantly Platformgroups and individuals Overviews: have increased Facebook significantly throughout the pandemic. across mainstream and fringe social media Methodology:platforms. Facebook QAnon conspiracy theorists are • COVID-19 is being used as a ‘wedge issue’ to capitalising on the pandemic: Topromote provide anconspiracy assessment theories, of the target scale ofminority Holocaust denial, ISD researchers gathered posts from public Facebookcommunities, pages andand callgroups for extreme containing violence. the phrase ‘holohoax’.• QAnon ISD influencers then created are a sub-sampleusing the pandemic of pages to and groups that had used the term ‘holohoax’ in a non-criticalincrease context their at reach least online.five times. ISD researchers then expanded this list by adding Holocaust denial pages and groups identified in previous research by the COVID-19 is being used to advance calls • Proponents of the far-right QAnon conspiracy Anti-Defamation League (ADL)13 and ongoing monitoring.theory This produced are advancing a cumulative a wide rangetotal of of 36 different groups andfor thepages. ‘boogaloo’ – an extreme right-wing narratives off the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, meme referring to an impending civil war: including the idea that the pandemic is being For each of these pages and groups, ISD analysed the number of followers and their ideological focus and • While some of these calls appear to be ironic, orchestrated to manipulate US politics; is a searched for broader keywords to assess the wider scale of conversation around the Holocaust in spaces others should be recognised as legitimate security bioweapon; that there is a hidden cure for the in which its denial is common. Lastly, we qualitatively analysed the recommendations made by Facebook threats. virus; and that it is being utilised to implement within Holocaust denial pages to gain additional insights into the nature and mechanisms by which • Discussions of the ‘boogaloo’ are increasingly martial law. Holocaust denial content can be discovered. pivoting towards the ways the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity for violence. Using the social media analysis tool CrowdTangle, Facebook-owned software which provides researchers • This conversation is taking place across and journalists with access to posts from public Facebook pages and groups, ISD researchers initially mainstream and fringe social media. gathered all posts containing the keyword ‘holohoax’ between 1 June 2018 and 22 July 2020 (Figure 1). • This trend has already manifested into real-world violence, with one alleged white supremacist Findings:terrorist dying Facebook after shootouts with the FBI. ISD identified 415 posts across 283 pages and groups, with a combined engagement of 32,650 (including

10,291 shares). In a sample of 50 posts, we found9th thatApril 41 2020 posts (82%) contained overt and explicit Holocaust denial, whileCOVID 9 posts used the-19 phrase todisinformation describe an antisemitic incident which had taken place. Figure 1 Mentions of ‘Holohoax’briefing in public on Facebook betweenno. 1 June2 2018 and 22 July 2020 70 60 Far-right mobilisation 50 This is the second in a series of briefings from ISD’s Digital Research Unit on the information40 ecosystem around coronavirus (COVID-19). These briefings expose how

technology30 platforms are being used to promote disinformation, hate, extremism and authoritarianism in the context of COVID-19. It is based on ISD’s mixture of natural language 20processing, network analysis and ethnographic online research. This briefing focuses on the way far-right groups and individuals are mobilising around COVID-19 in 10 the US. The first briefing in the series can be found on ISD’s website. 0 Jun '18 Dec '19 TopJun Lines '19 Dec ‘19 Jun '20

Far-right groups and individuals are Antisemitic speech and ideas are being Figure 2 Breakdown of Facebook pages and groups containing Holocaust denial material, opportunisticallyby ideology using the ongoing adapted to incorporate COVID-19: pandemic to advance their movements and • Old antisemitic tropes of ‘blood libel’ relating to ideologies:14 false claims of ritualistic sacrifice are being fused • COVID-19 is an increasingly important topic within with a wide range of conspiracy theories which are far-right communities.12 Mentions of ‘corona-chan’, emerging around COVID-19. a slang term for COVID-19 popular with far-right • This discussion has grown significantly groups and10 individuals have increased significantly throughout the pandemic. across mainstream and fringe social media platforms. 8 QAnon conspiracy theorists are • COVID-19 is being used as a ‘wedge issue’ to capitalising on the pandemic: promote conspiracy6 theories, target minority communities, and call for extreme violence. • QAnon influencers are using the pandemic to 4 increase their reach online. COVID-19 is being used to advance calls • Proponents of the far-right QAnon conspiracy 2 theory are advancing a wide range of different for the ‘boogaloo’ – an extreme right-wing narratives off the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, meme referring to an impending civil war: 0 including the idea that the pandemic is being • While some of Anti-Zionistthese calls appearChristian to right be ironic,Conspiracy Far-rightorchestrated Islamist to manipulate Pro-Palestine US politics; is a others should be recognised as legitimate security bioweapon; that there is a hidden cure for the threats. virus; and that it is being utilised to implement In• Discussions order to gain of a the more ‘boogaloo’ accurate are scale increasingly of the issue on Facebook,martial ISD law. therefore created a sub-sample of pagespivoting and towardsgroups that the hadways used the COVID-19the term ‘holohoax’ in an antisemitic fashion at least five times. This list of pagespandemic and groups provides was an then opportunity expanded for by violence. adding Holocaust denial pages identified in previous research by the• This ADL, conversation14 and others is thattaking were place identified across by ISD’s manual research. mainstream and fringe social media. This• This provided trend has ISD already with a manifestedlist of 28 groups into real-worldand 8 pages that were either dedicated to Holocaust denial or containedviolence, at with least one five alleged pieces white of Holocaust supremacist denial content; 8 were dedicated single-issue Holocaust denial forums,terrorist the dying remaining after shootouts28 engaged with with the Holocaust FBI. denial among other issues.

Followership 9th April 2020 The total combined number of followers of these pages and groups was 366,038, with the biggest group having 88,000 followers.COVID-19 disinformation

The average number of followers wasbriefing much lower among single-issueno. 2 Holocaust denial pages and groups (1,801) than for the pages and groups where Holocaust denial was one theme among many (12,494). -This shows that beyond a relatively small community of dedicated revisionists there is a much wider potential audience of users who could come across Holocaust denial in spaces that are not explicitly dedicated to it. Far-right mobilisation Ideological breakdown This is the second in a series of briefings from ISD’s Digital Research Unit on the The entities investigated were ideologically diverse. ISD researchers classified 9 of them as far-right, 7 as anti-Zionist,information 13 as ecosystem conspiracy theorists, around 5 coronavirusas pro-Palestine, (COVID-19). 1 as Christian These right and briefings 1 as Islamist expose (Figure 2).how15 technology platforms are being used to promote disinformation, hate, extremism and Thisauthoritarianism analysis of the ideological in the backgrounds context of of COVID-19. pages and groups It is based shows onthat ISD’s the spectrum mixture of of sources natural forlanguage Holocaust processing, denial is much network wider than analysis the far-right and and ethnographic a core group of online historical research. revisionists, This however briefing it should be noticed that this research primarily reflects English language Holocaust denial, and more researchfocuses is onrequired the wayto understand far-right this groups phenomenon and individuals across different are mobilising languages. around COVID-19 in the US. The first briefing in the series can be found on ISD’s website. Recommended content To gain additional insights into the nature and mechanismsTop Lines by which Holocaust denial content can be discovered, ISD qualitatively analysed the recommendations made by Facebook to the researcher analysing theFar-right groups groupsand pages and under individuals study. are Antisemitic speech and ideas are being opportunistically using the ongoing adapted to incorporate COVID-19: ISD researchers liked and followed the pages and groups under study, keeping track of the page pandemic to advance their movements and Old antisemitic tropes of ‘blood libel’ relating to recommendations provided by Facebook over the course• of the research. Simple searches in the Facebook ideologies: false claims of ritualistic sacrifice are being fused search function for the term ‘holocaust’ surfaced suggestions for Holocaust denial pages and groups. • COVID-19 is an increasingly important topic within with a wide range of conspiracy theories which are far-right communities. Mentions of ‘corona-chan’, emerging around COVID-19. a slang term for COVID-19 popular with far-right • This discussion has grown significantly groups and individuals have increased significantly throughout the pandemic. across mainstream and fringe social media platforms. QAnon conspiracy theorists are • COVID-19 is being used as a ‘wedge issue’ to capitalising on the pandemic: promote conspiracy theories, target minority communities, and call for extreme violence. • QAnon influencers are using the pandemic to increase their reach online. COVID-19 is being used to advance calls • Proponents of the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory are advancing a wide range of different for the ‘boogaloo’ – an extreme right-wing narratives off the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, meme referring to an impending civil war: including the idea that the pandemic is being • While some of these calls appear to be ironic, orchestrated to manipulate US politics; is a others should be recognised as legitimate security bioweapon; that there is a hidden cure for the Figurethreats. 3 Examples of content on pages recommended by Facebook virus; and that it is being utilised to implement • Discussions of the ‘boogaloo’ are increasingly martial law. Onepivoting of the towards bigger Holocaust the ways thedenial COVID-19 pages presents itself as dedicated to ‘intellectual freedom’ in relation to thepandemic Holocaust, provides which anit writes opportunity in quotes. for violence.Its profile picture shows two hand-cuffs, likely suggesting that its authors• This conversation feel the desired is taking debate place about across the veracity of Holocaust is being suppressed (Figure 4). mainstream and fringe social media. When• This enteringtrend has this already Holocaust manifested denial into page, real-world Facebook recommends you a series of pages that users might findviolence, interesting. with one These alleged include white pages supremacist not about the Holocaust (e.g. on the bombing of Dresden, another terrorist dying after shootouts with the FBI.

1 This is an ironic reference to the 1984 film Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, and the subsequent integration into the popular culture of the term ‘Electric Boogaloo’ to refer to a sequel (i.e. ‘Civil War 2: Electric Boogaloo’).

9th April 2020 COVID-19 disinformation briefing no. 2

Far-right mobilisation Figure 4 Holocaust denial page Figure 5 Holocaust denial page on Facebook This is the second in a series of briefings from ISD’s Digital Research Unit on the information ecosystem around coronavirus (COVID-19). These briefings expose how technology platforms are being used to promote disinformation, hate, extremism and authoritarianism in the context of COVID-19. It is based on ISD’s mixture of natural language processing, network analysis and ethnographic online research. This briefing focuses on the way far-right groups and individuals are mobilising around COVID-19 in the US. The first briefing in the series can be found on ISD’s website.

Figure 6 German-language Holocaust denial content Top Lines Figure 7 Other Holocaust denial pages on Facebook

Far-right groups and individuals are Antisemitic speech and ideas are being opportunistically using the ongoing adapted to incorporate COVID-19: pandemic to advance their movements and • Old antisemitic tropes of ‘blood libel’ relating to ideologies: false claims of ritualistic sacrifice are being fused • COVID-19 is an increasingly important topic within with a wide range of conspiracy theories which are far-right communities. Mentions of ‘corona-chan’, emerging around COVID-19. a slang term for COVID-19 popular with far-right • This discussion has grown significantly groups and individuals have increased significantly throughout the pandemic. across mainstream and fringe social media platforms. QAnon conspiracy theorists are • COVID-19 is being used as a ‘wedge issue’ to capitalising on the pandemic: promote conspiracy theories, target minority communities, and call for extreme violence. • QAnon influencers are using the pandemic to increase their reach online. COVID-19 is being used to advance calls • Proponents of the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory are advancing a wide range of different Figurefor the 7 Holocaust ‘boogaloo’ denial –pages an extreme right-wing recommended by Facebook narratives off the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, meme referring to an impending civil war: Figure 8 Far-right pages recommendedincluding by Facebook the idea that the pandemic is being • While some of these calls appear to be ironic, orchestrated to manipulate US politics; is a others should be recognised as legitimate security bioweapon; that there is a hidden cure for the 16 popularthreats. topic among historical revisionists ), but also pagesvirus; dedicated and that to it theis being notorious utilised British to implement Holocaust denier• Discussions David Irving, of the and ‘boogaloo’ to publishers are increasingly which sell revisionistmartial and Holocaust law. denial literature. These pages presentpivoting themselves towards the as waysinterested the COVID-19 in the ‘scientific investigat[ion of] historical events’, rather than as being antisemiticpandemic or provides sympathetic an opportunity to Nazi ideology for violence. (Figure 5). • This conversation is taking place across Notably,mainstream one of and these fringe pages social also media. publishes and promotes German-language Holocaust denial literature, althoughThis trend German-speaking has already manifested countries into are real-world among the strictest in enforcing their laws against Holocaust • 17 denialviolence, (Figure with 6). one alleged white supremacist terrorist dying after shootouts with the FBI.

From clicking through to these Holocaust denial9th pages, April Facebook’s 2020 recommendation algorithm led ISD researchers to furtherCOVID Holocaust denial-19 pages. disinformation Apart from these, Facebook also appears to promote content on the extreme right to those demonstrating an interest in Holocaust denial content. The platform recommended to researchers to visit Australian pages supportive of Oswald Mosley, the leaderbriefing of the British Union no. of Fascists, 2 and the works of the fascist Italian philosopher Julius Evola, published by a New Right publishing company.

Platform Overviews:Far-right Twitter mobilisation

Methodology:This is the Twitter second in a series of briefings from ISD’s Digital Research Unit on the Usinginformation the social media ecosystem analysis toolaround Brandwatch, coronavirus ISD researchers (COVID-19). gathered These all tweets briefings using the expose keyword how ‘holohoax’technology from platformsTwitter between are 1being June 2018 used and to 22 promote July 2020 disinformation, (Figure 9), andthen hate, analysed extremism the 20 tweets and that had the furthest reach and most retweets in order to assess if these tweets did actually deny the Holocaustauthoritarianism or not. in the context of COVID-19. It is based on ISD’s mixture of natural language processing, network analysis and ethnographic online research. This briefing Findings:focuses onTwitter the way far-right groups and individuals are mobilising around COVID-19 in Between 1 Junethe 2018 US. Theand 22 first July 2020briefing there inwere the roughly series 19,000 can postsbe found mentioning on ISD’s the termwebsite. ‘holohoax’ on Twitter. The number of tweets containing the phrase ‘holohoax’ was constant, with periodical peaks and down periods, matching trends on Facebook. Top Lines

Far-right groups and individuals are Antisemitic speech and ideas are being opportunisticallyFigure 9 Mentions using of the ‘holohoax’ ongoing on Twitter between 1adapted June 2018 andto incorporate22 July 2020 COVID-19: pandemic to advance their movements and 500 • Old antisemitic tropes of ‘blood libel’ relating to ideologies: false claims of ritualistic sacrifice are being fused • COVID-19400 is an increasingly important topic within with a wide range of conspiracy theories which are far-right communities. Mentions of ‘corona-chan’, emerging around COVID-19. a slang term300 for COVID-19 popular with far-right • This discussion has grown significantly groups and individuals have increased significantly throughout the pandemic. across mainstream200 and fringe social media platforms. QAnon conspiracy theorists are • COVID-19100 is being used as a ‘wedge issue’ to capitalising on the pandemic: promote conspiracy theories, target minority QAnon influencers are using the pandemic to communities,0 and call for extreme violence. • increase their reach online. Jun '18 Dec '19 Jun '19 Dec ‘19 Jul '20 COVID-19 is being used to advance calls • Proponents of the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory are advancing a wide range of different for the ‘boogaloo’ – an extreme right-wing narratives off the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, meme referring to an impending civil war: includingOut of the the top-20 idea that tweets the pandemic with the widest is being reach19 containing the phrase ‘holohoax’, • While some of these calls appear to be ironic, orchestrated to manipulate US politics; is a others should be recognised as legitimate security bioweapon;11 denied that the thereHolocaust is a hidden happened, cure forwhile the 9 threats. virus;others and criticised that it is being the term utilised and tothose implement who use it. Of the top-20 tweets with the most retweets • Discussions of the ‘boogaloo’ are increasingly martial law. pivoting towards the ways the COVID-19 containing the phrase ‘holohoax’, 14 contained pandemic provides an opportunity for violence. explicit Holocaust denial. • This conversation is taking place across mainstream and fringe social media. This indicates that while there is pushback on Twitter against ‘holohoax’ posts, these voices • This trend has already manifested into real-world Figureviolence, 10 Holocaust with one denial alleged content white on Twitter supremacist are in a minority of those using the term. terrorist dying after shootouts with the FBI. Examples of widely shared Holocaust denial content included a survey questioning the

www.isdglobal.org www.isdglobal.orgPO Box 75769 | London | SW1P 9ERPO |Box UK 75769 | London | SW1P 9ER | UK 7 COVID-19 disinformation briefingISD Briefing No.2 HostingFar-right the m ‘Holohoax’obilisation fact and/or scope of the Holocaust, posted by9th an accountApril 2020 with other 14,000 followers. Similarly, an account supporting the QAnon movement with 48,000 followers alleged thatCOVID Anne Frank’s diary-19 was a fraud, disinformation and that this weakened the evidence for the Holocaust. Another account claimed that the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust had been published before the end of World War II, suggesting that therefore the numberbriefing was made up (Figure no. 10). 2

Platform Overviews:Far-right Reddit mobilisation Figure 10 Holocaust denial content on Twitter Methodology:This is the Reddit second in a series of briefings from ISD’s Digital Research Unit on the Usinginformation the social media ecosystem analysis toolaround Brandwatch, coronavirus ISD researchers (COVID-19). gathered These all posts briefings and comments expose using how thetechnology keyword ‘holohoax’ platforms from are Reddit being between used 1 Juneto promote 2018 and disinformation,22 July 2020 (Figure hate, 11). They extremism then analysed and a randomised sample of 50 ‘holohoax’ posts and comments to find out whether these were denying the Holocaust,authoritarianism had been deleted, in the had context received of more COVID-19. upvotes than It is downvotes, based on and ISD’s whether mixture they ofreceived natural pushbacklanguage from processing, other users. network analysis and ethnographic online research. This briefing focuses on the way far-right groups and individuals are mobilising around COVID-19 in Findings: Redditthe US. The first briefing in the series can be found on ISD’s website. We found 2,300 posts mentioning the term ‘holohoax’ on Reddit, with a relatively stable use over time, comparable to the use of ‘holohoax’ on Twitter. ThisTop could Lines suggest that Reddit’s policy that subreddits promoting misinformation on issues ‘not seriously up for debate’, including the Holocaust, may not limit HolocaustFar-right denialgroups content and individuals effectively.20 are Antisemitic speech and ideas are being opportunistically using the ongoing adapted to incorporate COVID-19: pandemic to advance their movements and Figure 11 Mentions of ‘holohoax’ on Reddit between• Old 1 June antisemitic 2018 and 22tropes July 2020 of ‘blood libel’ relating to ideologies: false claims of ritualistic sacrifice are being fused 50 • COVID-19 is an increasingly important topic within with a wide range of conspiracy theories which are far-right communities. Mentions of ‘corona-chan’, emerging around COVID-19. a slang term for40 COVID-19 popular with far-right • This discussion has grown significantly groups and individuals have increased significantly throughout the pandemic. across mainstream30 and fringe social media platforms. QAnon conspiracy theorists are • COVID-19 is being20 used as a ‘wedge issue’ to capitalising on the pandemic: promote conspiracy theories, target minority communities,10 and call for extreme violence. • QAnon influencers are using the pandemic to increase their reach online. COVID-19 is being0 used to advance calls • Proponents of the far-right QAnon conspiracy Jun '18 Dec '19 Jun '19theory are advancingDec ‘19 a wide rangeJul '20 of different for the ‘boogaloo’ – an extreme right-wing narratives off the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, meme referring to an impending civil war: including the idea that the pandemic is being ISD researchers found various comments on Reddit including claims that the Holocaust had been • While some of these calls appear to be ironic, orchestrated to manipulate US politics; is a ‘debunked’others should and thatbe recognised the emigration as legitimate of a few Jewishsecurity intellectualsbioweapon; who were that partthere of is Frankfurt a hidden School cure for to the the USthreats. was proof that there could not have been a genocide ofvirus; the Jews.and that This it was is being connected utilised to to the implement broader far-right conspiracy theory of ‘cultural Marxism’, which alleges that the supposed influence of these • Discussions of the ‘boogaloo’ are increasingly martial law. intellectualspivoting towards encouraged the ways harmful the COVID-19 social behaviour (‘degeneracy’) to undermine the US (Figure 12). pandemic provides an opportunity for violence. However, several factors limit the visibility of Holocaust denial on Reddit. Within a randomised sample of 50 • This conversation is taking place across ‘holohoax’mainstream posts and and fringe comments social media. on Reddit, ISD researchers found that 4 were posted in private or banned subreddits. While of the remaining 46 posts only 3 did not clearly deny the Holocaust, 17 had been deleted, • This trend has already manifested into real-world 9 receivedviolence, eitherwith one no upvotesalleged white or more supremacist downvotes than upvotes, and 14 received pushback from other users.terrorist Only dying 12 serious after Holocaustshootouts denialwith the posts FBI. within our sample received more upvotes than downvotes and no pushback.

9th April 2020 COVID-19 disinformation briefing no. 2

Far-right mobilisation

This is the second in a series of briefings from ISD’s Digital Research Unit on the Figureinformation 12 Holocaust denialecosystem content on around Reddit coronavirus (COVID-19). These briefings expose how technology platforms are being used to promote disinformation, hate, extremism and authoritarianism in the context of COVID-19. It is based on ISD’s mixture of natural Platformlanguage processing, Overviews: network YouTube analysis and ethnographic online research. This briefing focuses on the way far-right groups and individuals are mobilising around COVID-19 in Methodology:the YouTubeUS. The first briefing in the series can be found on ISD’s website. Using the social media analysis tool Brandwatch, ISD researchers gathered all comments, video description texts and video titles using the keyword ‘holohoax’Top from Lines YouTube between 1 June 2018 and 22 July 2020 (Figure 13). To help stress-test whether YouTube actually follows its own policy banning Holocaust denial, ISDFar-right searched groups the platform and individuals manually for are terms associatedAntisemitic with Holocaust speech denial. and ideas are being opportunistically using the ongoing adapted to incorporate COVID-19: Findings:pandemic YouTube to advance their movements and • Old antisemitic tropes of ‘blood libel’ relating to Ourideologies: analysis revealed over 9,500 comments, video descriptionfalse claimstexts and of ritualisticvideo titles sacrifice on YouTube are being containing fused the phrase ‘holohoax’. Crucially, an analysis of the volume of these mentions over time reveals a dramatic • COVID-19 is an increasingly important topic within with a wide range of conspiracy theories which are drop in content around spring 2019, demonstrating the effectivenessemerging around of YouTube’s COVID-19. ban on Holocaust denialfar-right content. communities. Mentions of ‘corona-chan’, a slang term for COVID-19 popular with far-right • This discussion has grown significantly throughout the pandemic. Thisgroups demonstrates and individuals platform have policies increased and significantlyaction can have an impact on the prevalence of Holocaust denial andacross antisemitism mainstream on theand platform, fringe social when media enforced. To help stress-test this finding, ISD researchers searched theplatforms. platform manually for terms associated with HolocaustQAnon denial. conspiracy theorists are • COVID-19 is being used as a ‘wedge issue’ to capitalising on the pandemic: promote conspiracy theories, target minority communities, and call for extreme violence. • QAnon influencers are using the pandemic to Figure 13 Mentions of ‘holohoax’ on YouTube betweenincrease 1 June 2018their and reach 22 July online. 2020 COVID-19 is being used to advance calls • Proponents of the far-right QAnon conspiracy 500 theory are advancing a wide range of different for the ‘boogaloo’ – an extreme right-wing narratives off the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, meme referring400 to an impending civil war: including the idea that the pandemic is being • While some of these calls appear to be ironic, orchestrated to manipulate US politics; is a others should300 be recognised as legitimate security bioweapon; that there is a hidden cure for the threats. virus; and that it is being utilised to implement • Discussions of200 the ‘boogaloo’ are increasingly martial law. pivoting towards the ways the COVID-19 pandemic provides100 an opportunity for violence. • This conversation is taking place across mainstream and0 fringe social media. • This trend has alreadyJun '18 manifested Dec into '19 real-world Jun '19 Dec ‘19 Jul '20 violence, with one alleged white supremacist terrorist dying after shootouts with the FBI.

9th April 2020 COVID-19 disinformation briefing no. 2

Far-right mobilisation

FigureThis 14 Holocaust is the denial second playlists in ona seriesYouTube, ofwith briefings videos removed from ISD’s Digital Research Unit on the information ecosystem around coronavirus (COVID-19). These briefings expose how This analysis revealed that while playlists technology platforms are being used to promote such disinformation, as ‘holohoax’ or hate,‘The Jewish extremism Holocaust and authoritarianism in the context of COVID-19. ItHoax is based – The Greateston ISD’s Mindcrime mixture of of the natural 20th language processing, network analysis and ethnographicCentury’ could online still be research. found, videos This explicitly briefing focuses on the way far-right groups and individualsdenying are themobilising Holocaust around had been COVID-19 deleted (it is in unclear whether these have been removed or the US. The first briefing in the series deletedcan be byfound users fromon ISD’s the information website. available) (Figure 14). Top Lines The remaining videos on these playlists Figure 15 Examples of content remaining on Holocaust denial included content that Holocaust deniers could playlistsFar-right on YouTube groups and individuals are Antisemitic speech and ideas are being opportunistically using the ongoing adaptedfind interesting, to incorporate but did COVID-19:not deny the Holocaust. pandemic to advance their movements and These included news interviews with the former Iranian president Mahmud Ahmadinejad, or videos• Old of Jewish antisemitic left-wing tropes activists of ‘blood claiming libel’ relating that Israel to is weaponisingideologies: false allegations of antisemitism to stifle criticismfalse claims of its ofpolicies ritualistic towards sacrifice Palestinians are being fused (Figure• COVID-19 15). is an increasingly important topic within with a wide range of conspiracy theories which are far-right communities. Mentions of ‘corona-chan’, emerging around COVID-19. a slang term for COVID-19 popular with far-right • This discussion has grown significantly Conclusiongroups and individuals have increased significantly throughout the pandemic. across mainstream and fringe social media Althoughplatforms. only presenting a small case study around HolocaustQAnon denial, conspiracy this paper theorists provides aare snapshot of how such• COVID-19 content is canbeing be used found as on a ‘wedgefour social issue’ media to platforms.capitalising Specifically on the the report pandemic: highlights how Facebook, whichpromote has been conspiracy unwilling theories, to recognise target minorityHolocaust denial as a form of hate speech against Jews, has a small butcommunities, well-established and calland forideologically extreme violence. diverse community• QAnonof Holocaust influencers deniers are on usingits platform. the pandemic We also to found that Twitter similarly contains a small but persistentincrease level of conversationtheir reach online. denying the Holocaust. COVID-19 is being used to advance calls • Proponents of the far-right QAnon conspiracy The research highlights how YouTube, which recognised thetheory denial are of advancing well-documented a wide range violent of differentevents as for the ‘boogaloo’ – an extreme right-wing a form of hate speech, was effective in limiting the spreadnarratives of such content off the onback its ofplatform the COVID-19 after it pandemic,banned postsmeme that referring deny the to Holocaust. an impending The implications civil war: of similar includingpolicy design the ideaat Reddit that theare pandemicalso notable: is being while potentially• While some less of effective these calls at appearremoving to bespecific ironic, pieces of orchestratedHolocaust denial to manipulatecontent on USthe politics; platform, is athe community-levelothers should be policy recognised for quarantining as legitimate spaces security dedicatedbioweapon; to such content that there seems is toa hidden have been cure effective for the atthreats. demoting Holocaust denial content for new users, to thevirus; extent and that that it it is is now being not utilised easily discoverable.to implement The• Discussions platform was of the also ‘boogaloo’ identified are as increasinglya forum in which counterspeechmartial law. was accessible where Holocaust denial contentpivoting was towards identified. the ways the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity for violence. These• This conversationfindings point is towardstaking place several across key recommendations, which could be effective in limiting the spread ofmainstream Holocaust denial and fringe content. social Primarily, media. they suggest that companies should implement amendments to their• This policies, trend has in linealready with manifested companies into like real-worldYouTube and Reddit, and recognise how historical disinformation is violence,used as a withtool oneof hate alleged speech. white Comments supremacist made by Joel Kaplan suggest that Facebook’s decision to keep Holocaustterrorist dyingdenial after content shootouts on its platform with the is FBI. in part driven by a conceptual blind-spot in its understanding of such issues – such activity is primarily seen as an issue of historical accuracy rather than a direct weapon

www.isdglobal.org www.isdglobal.orgPO Box 75769 | London | SW1P 9ERPO |Box UK 75769 | London | SW1P 9ER | UK10 COVID-19 disinformation briefingISD Briefing No.2 HostingFar-right the m ‘Holohoax’obilisation used by individuals targeting minority communities.9th April Recognising 2020 genocide denial as a form of hatred could have a significant impactCOVID on the prevalence-19 of hatefuldisinformation content targeting minority communities online. There is a range of policy responses and sanctions possible for Holocaust denial content, as displayed by the approaches taken in the YouTube and Reddit cases. Removal of content or channels is one option; a less robust response is to down-rank briefingHolocaust denial content no. or channels 2 to ensure that they are not recommended to or searchable by new users. This is more in line with Reddit’s current approach to the problem, though still enables hateful antisemitic content to remain online. ISD’s research showed how Facebook’s content recommendation algorithms can actively point users towards Holocaust denial content: preventing its recommendationFar-right to users would be mobilisation the minimal first step that Facebook could take in order to reduce the visibility and accessibility of such content. This is the second in a series of briefings from ISD’s Digital Research Unit on the As well as changes of policies around hate speech, observations of platforms made in this study also pointinformation towards other ecosystem areas of programming around coronavirus which could help (COVID-19). limit the spread These of Holocaust briefings denial expose content. how Ontechnology Reddit, our researchers platforms observed are being how used community to promote counterspeech disinformation, had been effective hate, extremism in hiding and and discreditingauthoritarianism the Holocaust in denialthe context content thatof COVID-19. we identified. It Investingis based in on community-focused ISD’s mixture of campaign natural work, such as the recent #NoDenyingIt campaign launched in July 2020,21 could help to raise awareness amonglanguage the users processing, of the platform network and inspire analysis community and ethnographic pushback against online those research. engaged in ThisHolocaust briefing denial.focuses In the on long the term, way well-established far-right groups Holocaust and individuals education organisations are mobilising can play around an important COVID-19 role in in promoting digitalthe US. civility The as firsta component briefing of theirin the educational series canmaterials, be found to empower on ISD’s new generationswebsite. to push back against those perpetrating hate against Jewish communities online. Top Lines

Far-right groups and individuals are Antisemitic speech and ideas are being opportunistically using the ongoing adapted to incorporate COVID-19: pandemic to advance their movements and • Old antisemitic tropes of ‘blood libel’ relating to ideologies: false claims of ritualistic sacrifice are being fused • COVID-19 is an increasingly important topic within with a wide range of conspiracy theories which are far-right communities. Mentions of ‘corona-chan’, emerging around COVID-19. a slang term for COVID-19 popular with far-right • This discussion has grown significantly groups and individuals have increased significantly throughout the pandemic. across mainstream and fringe social media platforms. QAnon conspiracy theorists are • COVID-19 is being used as a ‘wedge issue’ to capitalising on the pandemic: promote conspiracy theories, target minority communities, and call for extreme violence. • QAnon influencers are using the pandemic to increase their reach online. COVID-19 is being used to advance calls • Proponents of the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory are advancing a wide range of different for the ‘boogaloo’ – an extreme right-wing narratives off the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, meme referring to an impending civil war: including the idea that the pandemic is being • While some of these calls appear to be ironic, orchestrated to manipulate US politics; is a others should be recognised as legitimate security bioweapon; that there is a hidden cure for the threats. virus; and that it is being utilised to implement • Discussions of the ‘boogaloo’ are increasingly martial law. pivoting towards the ways the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity for violence. • This conversation is taking place across mainstream and fringe social media. • This trend has already manifested into real-world violence, with one alleged white supremacist terrorist dying after shootouts with the FBI.

Endnotes 9th April 2020

01 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/21/holocaust-denial-changing-antisemitism-far-rightCOVID-19 disinformation 02 https://www.Holocaustremembrance.com/resources/working-definitions-charters/working-definition-briefing no. 2 Holocaust-denial-and-distortion 03 https://www.ushmm.org/antisemitism/Holocaust-denial-and-distortion 04 https://www.yadvashem.org/Holocaust/Holocaust-antisemitism/Holocaust-denial-laws.html 05 https://www.facebook.com/communitystandards/hate_speechFar-right mobilisation 06 https://cst.org.uk/news/latest-news/2016/11/28/twitter-shuts-down-antisemitic-accounts-following-close- work-with-cstThis is the second in a series of briefings from ISD’s Digital Research Unit on the information ecosystem around coronavirus (COVID-19). These briefings expose how 07 https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/hateful-conduct-policy technology platforms are being used to promote disinformation, hate, extremism and 08 https://cst.org.uk/news/latest-news/2016/11/15/twitter-unveils-new-policy-on-hateful-conduct-following- authoritarianismdialogue-with-groups-including-cst in the context of COVID-19. It is based on ISD’s mixture of natural language processing, network analysis and ethnographic online research. This briefing 09 https://jewishinsider.com/2019/05/facebook-to-allow-holocaust-denial-on-its-site/ focuses on the way far-right groups and individuals are mobilising around COVID-19 in 10 https://www.ushmm.org/antisemitism/holocaust-denial-and-distortion; https://www.splcenter.org/fighting- hate/extremist-files/ideology/holocaust-denialthe US. The first briefing in the series can be found on ISD’s website.

11 See https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/youtube-bans-holocaust-denial-videos-policy-Top Lines reversal-190605220848529.html The policy states that to ‘deny that a well-documented, violent event took place’ contravenes YouTube’s rules concerning hate speech. See also https://support.google.com/youtube/ Far-rightanswer/2801939?hl=en groups and individuals are Antisemitic speech and ideas are being opportunistically using the ongoing adapted to incorporate COVID-19: 12pandemic https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043069012 to advance their movements and • Old antisemitic tropes of ‘blood libel’ relating to 13 https://www.adl.org/blog/facebook-has-a-Holocaust-denial-problem ideologies: false claims of ritualistic sacrifice are being fused 14• COVID-19 https://www.adl.org/blog/facebook-has-a-Holocaust-denial-problem is an increasingly important topic within with a wide range of conspiracy theories which are emerging around COVID-19. 15 far-right While there communities. may of course Mentions be overlaps of ‘corona-chan’, between anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian entities, ISD researchers classified This discussion has grown significantly a slangpages term and groups for COVID-19 as pro-Palestinian popular with their far-right focus was on the• promotion of Palestinian causes, rather than merely groupsthe expressed and individuals opposition have to Zionism.increased significantly throughout the pandemic. across mainstream and fringe social media 16 In 1963, David Irving published the book The Destruction of Dresden, in which he claimed the bombing of Dresden platforms. had been the ‘biggest massacre in European history’, seeminglyQAnon downplaying conspiracy the Holocaust.theorists His are estimate of there • COVID-19 is being used as a ‘wedge issue’ to having been 150,000–200,000 deaths was based on a singlecapitalising source. Irving on later the admitted pandemic: he was only repeating promote conspiracy theories, target minority rumours in this reference, and he gradually corrected his estimate in later decades. An official inquiry by the city communities, and call for extreme violence. • QAnon influencers are using the pandemic to of Dresden estimated the death count to be between 22,700increase and 25,000. their See reach https://www.splcenter.org/fighting- online. hate/extremist-files/individual/david-irving and https://www.history.com/news/dresden-bombing-wwii-allies COVID-19 is being used to advance calls • Proponents of the far-right QAnon conspiracy 17 https://www.yadvashem.org/Holocaust/Holocaust-antisemitism/Holocaust-denial-laws.htmltheory are advancing a wide range of different for the ‘boogaloo’ – an extreme right-wing narratives off the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, 18 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-47230443 meme referring to an impending civil war: including the idea that the pandemic is being 19• While Brandwatch’s some of thesereach metriccalls appear estimates to be how ironic, many of your followersorchestrated would likely to manipulate see a post on US average, politics; on is the a othersbasis shouldof the likes, be recognised retweets and as shares legitimate that content security tends tobioweapon; get on Twitter that per there amount is aof hidden followers. cure For for more the threats.information, see https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/introducing-the-brandwatch-reach-score-making-virus; and that it is being utilised to implement • Discussionsreporting-simpler-and-more-trustworthy/ of the ‘boogaloo’ are increasingly martial law. 20pivoting https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043069012 towards the ways the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity for violence. 21 https://time.com/5873184/facebook-holocaust-denial-posts/ • This conversation is taking place across mainstream and fringe social media. • This trend has already manifested into real-world violence, with one alleged white supremacist terrorist dying after shootouts with the FBI.

www.isdglobal.org www.isdglobal.orgPO Box 75769 | London | SW1P 9ERPO |Box UK 75769 | London | SW1P 9ER | UK12 COVID-19 disinformation briefingISD Briefing No.2 About the Institute for Strategic Dialogue HostingFar-right the m ‘Holohoax’obilisation We are a global team of data analysts, researchers, innovators, policy-experts, practitioners and activists - powering9th solutionsApril 2020 to extremism, hate and polarisation. COVID-19 disinformation The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) is an independent nonprofit organisation dedicated to safeguarding humanbriefing rights and reversing no. 2the rising global tide of hate, extremism and polarisation. We combine sector-leading expertise in global extremist movements with advanced digital analysis of disinformationFar-right and weaponised mobilisation hate to deliver innovative, tailor-made policy and operational responses to these threats. This is the second in a series of briefings from ISD’s Digital Research Unit on the ISD draws on fifteen years of anthropological research, leading expertise in global extremistinformation movements, ecosystem state-of-the-art around coronavirus digital analysis(COVID-19). and These a track briefings record ofexpose trust how and deliverytechnology in over 40 platforms countries are beingaround used the to world promote to: disinformation, hate, extremism and authoritarianism in the context of COVID-19. It is based on ISD’s mixture of natural • Supportlanguage central processing, and local network governments analysis and in designing ethnographic and online delivering research. evidence-based This briefing policiesfocuses and on programmes the way far-right in response groups and to individuals hate, extremism, are mobilising terrorism, around polarisation COVID-19 in and disinformationthe US. The first briefing in the series can be found on ISD’s website. • Empower youth, practitioners and community influencers through innovative education, technology and communicationsTop Lines programmes. • AdviseFar-right governments groups and andindividuals tech companies are onAntisemitic policies and speech strategies and ideas to are mitigate being theopportunistically online harms we using face the today ongoing and achieveadapted a ‘Good to Web’ incorporate that reflects COVID-19: our liberal pandemic to advance their movements and democratic values • Old antisemitic tropes of ‘blood libel’ relating to ideologies: false claims of ritualistic sacrifice are being fused Only •inCOVID-19 collaboration is an increasingly with all important of these topic groups within canwith we a wide hope range to of outcompete conspiracy theories the which extremist are mobilizationfar-right communities. of our time Mentions and build of ‘corona-chan’, safe, free andemerging resilient around societies COVID-19. for generations to come.a slang term for COVID-19 popular with far-right • This discussion has grown significantly groups and individuals have increased significantly throughout the pandemic. All of ISD’sacross programmesmainstream and fringe are socialdelivered media with the support of donations and grants. We have theplatforms. data on what works. We now need yourQAnon help conspiracy to scale our theorists efforts. are • COVID-19 is being used as a ‘wedge issue’ to capitalising on the pandemic: promote conspiracy theories, target minority Supportcommunities, our work: and isdglobal.org/donate call for extreme violence. • QAnon influencers are using the pandemic to increase their reach online. GeneralCOVID-19 is being used to advance calls • Proponents of the far-right QAnon conspiracy [email protected] theory are advancing a wide range of different for the ‘boogaloo’ – an extreme right-wing narratives off the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, meme referring to an impending civil war: including the idea that the pandemic is being Media orchestrated to manipulate US politics; is a media• Whileisdglobal.org some of these calls appear to be ironic, others@ should be recognised as legitimate security bioweapon; that there is a hidden cure for the threats. virus; and that it is being utilised to implement Support• Discussions of the ‘boogaloo’ are increasingly martial law. getinvolvedpivoting@ towardsisdglobal.org the ways the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity for violence. • This conversation is taking place across mainstream and fringe social media. • This trend has already manifested into real-world violence, with one alleged white supremacist terrorist dying after shootouts with the FBI.