A Safe Space to Hate: White Supremacist Mobilisation on Telegram

Covid-19 disinformation briefingISD briefing No.3 Far-right exploitationA Safe Space of Covid-19 to Hate

26th12th June May 2020 2020 AFar-right Safe Space exploitation to Hate: Whiteof SupremacistCovid-19 Mobilisation on Telegram ISDISD and BBCJakob Guhl Click & Jacob Davey investigation

ISD and BBC Click Investigation analyses far right exploitation of Covid-19 disinformation and uncovers massive volumes of engagement with COVID-19 disinformation on Facebook. ISD’s digital analysis unit has been monitoring a network of 208 online channels distributing white supremacist content on the encryptedInvestigation messaging Briefing platform note: Telegram. In an analysis of more than a million posts, this briefing unpacks how the platform is being used to glorify terrorism, callThis for week, violence, ISD spread released extremist a pioneering ideological investigation material and with demonise BBC Click, minority mapping groups. the scale and nature of online disinformation around COVID-19 in the US, as well as its co-option by far WARNING:right actors. This The report investigation contains images was andfeatured descriptions on BBC of World’s posts that Click readers programme, may find as well as extremelyon the BBC upsetting. News website These include. calls for (sexual) violence, the glorification of terrorism and the dehumanisation of minority communities. ISD researchers found that 34 known disinformation-hosting websites gathered the staggeringly high volume of 80 million interactions on public Facebook between January and April, 2020. For context, in the same time period, posts linking to the WHO’s website received 6.2 million interactions, with the website of the SummaryUS Center for Disease Control (CDC) receiving 6.4 million interactions through posts on public Facebook.

InOur the analysis past five – whichyears, revealedterrorism hundreds from the ofextreme thousands right ofhas far surged right posts by 320%. around1 In 2019,COVID-19 high-profile and millions attacks of inengagements New Zealand, with the US,known Germany disinformation and Norway sites were – provides committed an important by individuals evidence with baselittle orfor no understanding connection tohow extremist extremist organisations groups, disinformation or proscribed actors terrorist and groups. fringe medical Instead, communities evidence suggests are working that these to exploit individuals the werepandemic connected online, to and loose highlights extreme a right marked networks increase largely in operatingconversations online. within This points far right to a circles shift towards about so-a post-organisationalcalled ‘elites’ including paradigm Bill wherebyGates, George online Soros,connection the Rothschilds to extremist andculture Jeff and Bezos ideology and false could information be equally importantabout their for role inspiring in the violencecreation asor spreadconnections of the to virus. “on Thethe ground”conversations groups. monitored by ISD researchers referenced the virus as a tool of social control, a purposeful plot to kill off certain populations, or a means Into understanding make money forthis these post-organisational individuals and landscapetheir institutions, it is essential all of which to analyse are unfounded the online claims.ecosystems ISD’s Digitalwhich provideAnalysis a Unitpermissive is working space on where an ongoing violent basis and toterrorist expose activity and analyse can be hateful explicitly disinformation endorsed. The campaigns encrypted messagingaround COVID-19 platform and Telegram more broadly – originally in the established run up to the to provideUS 2020 users election, living informing in authoritarian grassroots states and with policy a meansresponses. of secure Our research communication will continue – has to become track how one disinformation of these spaces, and and weaponised is now an important hate is being platform used for whiteduring supremacist the election actors to marginalise to propagate communities, violent and push extremist divisive messages. narratives2 and undermine democracy, using a mix of data analytics, OSINT research and policy analysis. Telegram has gained considerable attention as one of the key communication tools used by jihadist groups suchSummarised as ISIS. A 2019 below study are theby Georgetown methodologies University’s utilised Program by ISD researcherson Extremism for uncovered this investigation, 636 Telegram and the pro-Islamickey findings State of channelsthe research. that contained English-language propaganda.3 The company has since taken action against ISIS, including a major operation with The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement CooperationFor more information (Europol) in onlate our 2019 ongoing to take research, down networks including of ISIS-related how you can channels. get involved4 or support our work, please sign up to our mailing list, Telegramor get in hastouch limited at [email protected] content-moderation. policies, only banning the promotion of violence on public channels and the sharing of illegal pornographic material.5 As a result of these narrow content-moderation policies, Telegram has become an important platform on which white supremacist actors can gain momentum. This mobilisation covers a spectrum of activity, ranging from general ideological discussions to the promotion of political violence, the glorification of terrorist attacks, and even sharing guides which help individuals prepare for violence.

To better understand the scale and nature of12th this mobilisation May 2020 and the risks posed by these communities, ISD has been monitoring 208 Telegram groups which promote white supremacist ideology, focused mainly on the US context, and analysingFar-right more than a million exploitation posts.6 This research highlights how, through its limited content-moderation policies, Telegram has become a safe space for white supremacists to shareof and Covid-19 discuss a range of explicit extremist material. Furthermore, it shows that many of these Telegram communities have become permissive environments where overt calls for violence and support for terrorism is widespread. Much of the content which we have identified appears to breach Telegram’s Terms of Service which prohibit the promotion of violence, suggesting that the platform’sISDISD current enforcement and ofBBC its policies isClick ineffective. investigation

Due to theISD highly and egregious BBC Click nature Investigation of violent and analyses pro-terrorist far content right exploitation which we identified of Covid-19 in this study, ISD believes that an “early warning system” which facilitates the semi-automated identification of high-risk contentdisinformation should be trialled and in order uncovers to detect massive and mitigate volumes calls for ofviolence engagement arising from with these COVID-19 channels. disinformation on Facebook.

Key Findings Investigation Briefing note:

•This ISD week, researchers ISD released identified a pioneering 208 Telegram investigation channels used with by BBCwhite Click, supremacists. mapping The the messages scale and natureshared of within online these disinformation channels range around from general COVID-19 non-violent in the racist US, discussions as well as to its support co-option for political by far rightviolence, actors. the The glorification investigation of terrorism was featuredand terrorist on groups, BBC World’s and direct Click calls programme,for violent attacks as wellagainst as minorities, political opponents and the state. on the BBC News website. • These channels are highly networked, and 21.2% of the content identified in this analysis was ISDforwarded researchers from found another that 34 known group. disinformation-hosting In total we found that 205 websites out of the gathered 208 channels the staggeringly we identified high volumelinked of to 80 one million another, interactions highlighting on public the densely Facebook interconnected between January nature and ofApril, white 2020. supremacist For context, in the samecommunities time period, on posts Telegram. linking toIn themany WHO’s instances, website channels received which 6.2 million were not interactions explicitly violent, with the still website directed of the US theirCenter followers for Disease to channels Control where (CDC) endorsement receiving 6.4 millionof violence interactions is commonplace. through postsThis suggests on public that Facebook. racist but non-violent channels can act as gateways to communities which explicitly promote violence. Our analysis – which revealed hundreds of thousands of far right posts around COVID-19 and millions of • The largest of these channels had 11,578 members. The size of these groups ranged from 67 to engagements with known disinformation sites – provides an important evidence base for understanding 11,578 members, and the average membership was 1,773. how extremist groups, disinformation actors and fringe medical communities are working to exploit the •pandemic These channelsonline, and rely highlights heavily a on marked image increase and video in content. conversations We identified within farthat right 20.7% circles of posts about did so-not calledcontain ‘elites’ any including text, indicating Bill Gates, the key George role played Soros, by the images Rothschilds and videos and on Jeff Telegram. Bezos and On average,false information 40% of aboutthe their posts role made in the in a creation channel or were spread images of the or virus.videos. The Our conversations analysis of these monitored channels by largelyISD researchers focused on referencedthe written the content virus as theya tool shared, of social but control, the prominence a purposeful of imageplot to and kill offvideo certain content populations, on these channelsor a means has to makeimportant money implications for these individuals for future researchand their as institutions, well as potential all of which content-moderation are unfounded claims.solutions. ISD’s Digital Analysis Unit is working on an ongoing basis to expose and analyse hateful disinformation campaigns • ISD analysed 1,048,575 posts across 208 channels propagating white supremacist content around COVID-19 and more broadly in the run up to the US 2020 election, informing grassroots and policy and found support for terrorists and terrorist organisations in 125 (60.1%) of the channels responses. Our research will continue to track how disinformation and weaponised hate is being used monitored. This content included the glorification of terrorist attacks and explicit calls for violence during the election to marginalise communities, push divisive narratives and undermine democracy, using a against minority communities and other groups deemed to be enemies. mix of data analytics, OSINT research and policy analysis. • We found reference to “boogaloo” – a slang term used to denote a second civil war – Summarisedin 117 (56.3%) below of arethe thechannels methodologies identified. utilised Although by other ISD researchers research has for highlighted this investigation, how some and the key“boogaloo” findings ofcommunities the research. outwardly promote anti-government rather than explicitly racist rhetoric, this nevertheless suggests important crossover between well-armed militia movements and Forviolence-endorsing more information white on our supremacist ongoing research, communities. including7 how you can get involved or support our work, please sign up to our mailing list, • Of the channels analysed, 183 (87.9%) contained explicit anti-minority slurs or presented or get in touch at [email protected]. minority communities in a hostile light. An analysis of a sample of 200 posts discussing minority communities (but not containing explicit anti-minority slurs) revealed that all mentions of minority groups were framed in a hostile fashion or contained elements of supremacist “in-group/out-group” thinking. The channels in our analysis that did not contain explicit anti-minority slurs were largely used for the dissemination of image and video content and so were not included in our linguistic analysis.

Channel Identification and Classification12th May 2020

We started our identificationFar-right process with 18 public exploitation Telegram channels associated with white supremacist mobilisation. These were discovered by searching Telegram for public channels named after hate groups and containing terminology associatedof Covid-19 with white supremacy. Of these, six are associated with the terrorism-endorsing hate group Atomwaffen Division,8 and the remaining 12 more broadly with the glorification of terrorists.9 Telegram channels often share material which links to ideologically related public channels, and using these 18 channels as content seeds we employed a “snowball” methodology to identify connected, ideologically similar public communities, which we then joined. Through the content, our seed- channelsISD forwardedISD from and like-minded BBC channels, and Click the lists they collatedinvestigation of recommended channels, ISD researchers could identify and vet additional channels used by white supremacists. ISD and BBC Click Investigation analyses far right exploitation of Covid-19 Using this methodology, we identified 208 different channels, each with disinformation andbetween uncovers 67 and massive 11,578 followers, volumes expressing of engagement support for whitewith supremacistCOVID-19 ideology, disinformationand mainly focused on on Facebook. the US context. The average membership of these channels was 1,773. Investigation Briefing note: While the channels and groups analysed all communicated in English, some This week, ISD releasedwere a pioneering explicitly addressing investigation a transnational with BBC membership, Click, mapping promoting the like-minded scale and nature of online disinformationgroups in non-English around COVID-19 speaking countries in the US, and as commenting well as its on co-option issues and by far right actors. The investigationdevelopments was acrossfeatured the West.on BBC Within World’s these, Clickresearchers programme, identified as two well distinct as categories of channels: discussion threads which enabled group chat within a on the BBC News websitecommunity,. and one-to-many content banks, which served as repositories for propaganda material and ideological content. ISD researchers found that 34 known disinformation-hosting websites gathered the staggeringly high volume of 80 million interactions on public Facebook between January and April, 2020. For context, in the Figure 1. This research was focused on examining the risk posed by communities same time period, posts linking to the , with the website of the An example of an image mobilisingWHO’s on Telegram. website Based received on qualitative 6.2 million analysis interactions of the identified channels, linkingUS Center to related for channels. Disease Controlwe additionally (CDC) receiving coded 6.4 groups million which interactions explicitly through endorsed posts terrorist on public violence Facebook. and content repositories which primarily contained tactical material geared towards violentOur analysis mobilisation, – which including revealed bomb-makinghundreds of thousands instructions of far and right gun-fighting posts around tactics. COVID-19 and millions of engagements with known disinformation sites – provides an important evidence base for understanding Throughhow extremist this analysis, groups, we disinformation subdivided the actors channels and fringe in our medical list into: communities are working to exploit the pandemic online, and highlights a marked increase in conversations within far right circles about so- •called 49 pro-terrorist ‘elites’ including channels Bill Gates,: These George channels Soros, promote the Rothschilds groups who endorseand Jeff politically Bezos and motivated false information aboutviolence, their role or glorify in the individualscreation or whospread have of committedthe virus. The attacks. conversations monitored by ISD researchers referenced the virus as a tool of social control, a purposeful plot to kill off certain populations, or a means •to make7 tactical money groups for these: These individuals groups serve and their as hubs institutions, for the sharing all of which of tactical are unfounded material including claims. ISD’s advice Digital Analysison how Unit to isprepare working for on terrorist an ongoing attacks basis and to insurrection, expose and analysesurvive off-grid,hateful disinformation and monitor politicalcampaigns and aroundideological COVID-19 opponents. and more broadly in the run up to the US 2020 election, informing grassroots and policy •responses. 74 general Our discussion research will groups continue: These to track groups how provide disinformation spaces for and individuals weaponised to engage hate is beingin general used duringdiscussion the election around to whitemarginalise supremacy. communities, This includes push the divisive sharing narratives of memes, and “shitposting”undermine democracy,10 material, using a mixgeneralised of data analytics, racist andOSINT xenophobic research and conversation, policy analysis. and discussion of current affairs. •Summarised 78 content below banks are: These the methodologieschannels serve as utilised one-to-many by ISD repositories researchers of for material. this investigation, Often these andchannels the keycollate findings material of the relating research. to particular topics, such as historical photographs of Nazis, racist memes, and white supremacist literature and podcasts for wider circulation. For more information on our ongoing research, including how you can get involved or support our Mappingwork, please the forwarding sign up to ourpatterns mailing of channelslist, used by white supremacists Weor identifiedget in touch that at 222,[email protected] (21.2%) pieces. of content in our set were forwarded from other channels, highlighting the highly networked nature of white supremacist mobilisation on Telegram. Using the open-source network and visualisation software Gephi, ISD researchers visualised and analysed the forwarding patterns of the 208 channels used by white supremacists. It emerged that they share content from a dense network of channels, and that out of the 208 channels we identified, 205 were connected to this network.

In the network map in Figure 2, the large nodes12th in the May centre 2020 are channels whose content is regularly shared throughout the network. Far-right exploitation • The nodes are coloured by type: green nodes represent channels promoting pro-terrorist content (hereafter referred to as “pro-terrorist channels”); red nodes represent channels promoting white supremacist content (hereafter referredof toCovid-19 as “white supremacist channels”), and purple indicates unknown channels that were not part of our list of 208 channels but whose content was forwarded from at least one of them. • The size of the node is based on how often it forwarded content from another group or its content was forwardedISDISD by another and group (the BBCnumber of connections Click it has investigation within the network). • The centralityISD and of BBC a node Click indicates Investigation how many channelsanalyses forwarded far right its exploitation content (how ofwell Covid-19 it’s connected in the network). If, for example, a channel has a high number of connections to one channel, it is peripheral.disinformation If, on the other and hand,uncovers a channel’s massive content volumes is forwarded of engagement to many channels, with it is COVID-19 more central. disinformation on Facebook.

Investigation Briefing note:

This week, ISD released a pioneering investigation with BBC Click, mapping the scale and nature of online disinformation around COVID-19 in the US, as well as its co-option by far right actors. The investigation was featured on BBC World’s Click programme, as well as on the BBC News website.

ISD researchers found that 34 known disinformation-hosting websites gathered the staggeringly high volume of 80 million interactions on public Facebook between January and April, 2020. For context, in the same time period, posts linking to the WHO’s website received 6.2 million interactions, with the website of the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) receiving 6.4 million interactions through posts on public Facebook.

Our analysis – which revealed hundreds of thousands of far right posts around COVID-19 and millions of engagements with known disinformation sites – provides an important evidence base for understanding how extremist groups, disinformation actors and fringe medical communities are working to exploit the pandemic online, and highlights a marked increase in conversations within far right circles about so- called ‘elites’ including Bill Gates, George Soros, the Rothschilds and Jeff Bezos and false information Figureabout 2. their role in the creation or spread of the virus. The conversations monitored by ISD researchers Areferenced network of channels the virus whose as acontent tool of was social forward control, by channels a purposeful promoting whiteplot supremacistto kill off content.certain populations, or a means to make money for these individuals and their institutions, all of which are unfounded claims. ISD’s Digital FromAnalysis the Unitmap, is it working becomes on clear an ongoing that there basis are to multiple expose layers and analyse to the hatefulwhite supremacist disinformation network campaigns on Telegram.around COVID-19 Almost all and of ourmore pro-terrorist broadly in thechannels run up are to thenear US the 2020 centre election, of the informingmap and comparatively grassroots and large, policy meaningresponses. this Our content research is frequently will continue shared to track by a largehow disinformation number of channels and weaponised within the network.hate is being In a fewused exceptionalduring the electioncases, pro-terrorist to marginalise channels communities, (usually smallerpush divisive content narratives hubs) are and in underminea more peripheral democracy, position. using a Formix example, of data analytics, a channel OSINT that stores research Atomwaffen and policy analysis.Division propaganda but whose content is only forwarded by one larger channel is located outside of the centre of the map. Summarised below are the methodologies utilised by ISD researchers for this investigation, and the Beyondkey findings these, thereof the is research.a wide range of white supremacist channels that are peripheral to the network, representing channels that are not connected to as many of the initial channels within our list. For more information on our ongoing research, including how you can get involved or support our Whilework, some please of thesign generalised up to our mailingwhite supremacist list, channels in our map are represented by bigger nodes, meaningor get in this touch content at [email protected] was forwarded more. often, the pro-terrorist channels tended to be more central to our map, meaning that this content was forwarded to a greater number of channels.

This network map demonstrates that channels openly supportive of terrorists do not exist in isolation; this content is shared by like-minded channels, as well as by white supremacist channels. While the latter may not openly advocate for violence, by directing their followers towards channels that do, they may facilitate their exposure to more extreme and violent content.

12th May 2020 Qualitative Analysis ofFar-right the Channels exploitation After classifying the identified white supremacist channels according to their primary purpose, researchers aimed to develop a better understandingof of the Covid-19 themes and narratives promoted within them through a qualitative analysis of the content being shared. The relatively unchecked mobilisation of extremist groups on Telegram means that analysis of these channels can provide unparalleled insights into the narratives, subcultures and strategies of contemporary white supremacists.

DefiningISD terroristISD content and BBC Click investigation A particularly striking feature of these channels was the widespread and explicit support for the use of politically ISDand ideologicallyand BBC Click motivated Investigation violence, either analyses through far the right promotion exploitation of groups of associated Covid-19 with this violence,disinformation direct calls toand violent uncovers action, ormassive the sharing volumes of instructional of engagement material helping with people COVID-19 carry out attacks. The prevalence and varietydisinformation of this type of content on Facebook. prompts broader consideration around conceptualisations of extreme right wing terrorism.

Internationally, there is considerably lessInvestigation alignment around Briefing far right note: terrorism than Islamist, posing challenges to classification and enforcement. While some of the groups discussed in our channels are proscribedThis week, terrorist ISD released organisations a pioneering in some national investigation contexts, such with as BBC the neo-Nazi Click, mapping political group the scale Blood and& Honournature in of Canada online and disinformation extreme right terrorist around group COVID-19 National inAction the inUS, the as UK, well these as movementsits co-option are bynot far proscribedright actors. in others, The andinvestigation many groups was like Atomwaffenfeatured on DivisionBBC World’s are currently Click notprogramme, proscribed at as all well despite as explicitlyon the BBCadvocating News for website the use. of terrorist tactics.11

TheseISD researchers shortfalls foundin designation that 34 known have prompted disinformation-hosting wider debates aroundwebsites when gathered such content the staggeringly can be considered high ‘terrorist’volume ofin 80nature. million In 2019,interactions high-profile on public attacks Facebook were betweencommitted January in New and Zealand, April, 2020. the ForUS, context,Germany in theand Norwaysame time by individualsperiod, posts espousing linking to extremethe WHO’s right-wing website viewsreceived who 6.2 had million little or interactions no connection, with with the websiteextremist of the organisationsUS Center for or Disease proscribed Control terrorist (CDC) groups, receiving but 6.4who million were connected interactions to throughloose extreme posts on right-wing public Facebook. networks online. This suggests a shift towards a post-organisational model whereby connection to extremist culture andOur ideology analysis –online which could revealed be equally hundreds important of thousands as connections of far right to posts “on the around ground” COVID-19 groups. and millions of engagements with known disinformation sites – provides an important evidence base for understanding Whilehow extremistthe organisational groups, disinformation power of groups actors such and as Atomwaffenfringe medical Division communities is still important, are working the to networkexploit theof accountspandemic we online, identified and highlights points towards a marked a wide increase range of in relatively conversations large terrorism-endorsing within far right circles communities about so- whichcalled are ‘elites’ very easyincluding for individuals Bill Gates, to tapGeorge into withoutSoros, the expressing Rothschilds formal and affiliation Jeff Bezos to anda movement false information or making formalabout contacttheir role with in the other creation affiliates. or spread With ofthis the in virus. mind, The the conversationschannels and monitoredcontent discussed by ISD researchers below have been labelledreferenced in this the research virus as asa tool “pro-terrorist” of social control, when athere purposeful is express plot support to kill off for certainpolitically populations, motivated orviolence, a means violence-endorsingto make money for networks, these individuals or individuals and their who institutions, have committed all of which attacks are − unfoundedeven when claims.there is ISD’s no express Digital affiliationAnalysis Unit to ais proscribedworking on organisation. an ongoing basis to expose and analyse hateful disinformation campaigns around COVID-19 and more broadly in the run up to the US 2020 election, informing grassroots and policy Ourresponses. findings Our show research the importance will continue and to urgency track how of adisinformation broader discussion and weaponised at a national hate and isinternational being used level aroundduring waysthe election of addressing to marginalise the post-organisational communities, push extreme divisive right narratives through anda counter-terrorism undermine democracy, apparatus, using a whichmix of is data largely analytics, geared OSINT towards research countering and policy a group-based analysis. challenge and proscription-based approaches.

TerroristSummarised and violence below are endorsing the methodologies groups utilised by ISD researchers for this investigation, and the ISDkey researchers findings ofidentified the research. a number of channels seemingly established to promote extreme right terrorist networks such as Atomwaffen Division and Feuerkrieg Division. Another group present on Telegram is theFor neo-Nazi more information and occult ongroup our Order ongoing of Nine research, Angels, including which anti-racist how you advocacy can get group involved Hope or Not support Hate our havework, called please to besign proscribed up to our as mailing a terrorist lis torganisation, for its violent activities.12 In addition to this, researchersor get in touch found at propaganda [email protected] material .which promoted neo-Nazi paramilitary groups The Base, National Action (a terrorist organisation proscribed in the UK), and Blood and Honour (a terrorist organisation proscribed in Canada.)

12th May 2020 Far-right exploitation of Covid-19

ISDISD and BBC Click investigation

ISD and BBC Click Investigation analyses far right exploitation of Covid-19 Figure 3.disinformation and uncovers massive volumes of engagement with COVID-19 Content by the violent white supremacist groups National Action (far left), The Base (centre, left), Feuerkrieg Division (centre, right) and Atomwaffendisinformation Division (far right) on Facebook.

Investigation Briefing note: Glorifying terrorism ApartThis from week, organised ISD released terrorist a groups pioneering and franchises, investigation ISD researchers with BBC identified Click, mappingdozens of channels the scale and expressing support for, glorifying or sharing the videos and writings of known lone- actor terrorists. At times, thesenature individual of online violent disinformation extremists are worshipped around COVID-19 as “heroes” in or the “saints” US, as of thewell movement. as its co-option by far right actors. The investigation was featured on BBC World’s Click programme, as well as Oneon thechannel BBC named News after website a high-profile. white supremacist terrorist even collated a list of terrorist “saints” from around the world, listing their name, the date of their attack and the number of fatalities. The list extendsISD researchers back to foundthe assassin that 34 of known civil rights disinformation-hosting leader Martin Luther websites King Jr. in gathered 1968, and the includes staggeringly most of high the recentvolume cases of 80 of million high-profile interactions extreme on right public lone-actor Facebook terrorists. between JanuaryThe list andhas April,been 2020.regularly For context,updated in after the attacks.same time In May period, 2020, posts it contained linking to the the WHO’s names website of 50 attackers received from 6.2 millionthe US, interactionsUK, Germany,, with Sweden, the website New of the ZealandUS Center and for Norway. Disease Most Control of the (CDC) attackers receiving listed 6.4 aimed million to kill interactions others because through of their posts ethnic, on public racial Facebook. or religious background, even though in some cases the attacks also targeted politicians, police officers, abortionOur analysis doctors – which or civilians. revealed hundreds of thousands of far right posts around COVID-19 and millions of engagements with known disinformation sites – provides an important evidence base for understanding how extremist groups, disinformation actors and fringeWhile medical most communities individuals listedare working could be to classifiedexploit the as pandemic online, and highlights a marked increase infar-right conversations terrorists within or racially far rightmotivated circles murderers, about so- called ‘elites’ including Bill Gates, George Soros, thea Rothschildsnumber of outliers and Jeff without Bezos obvious and false connections information about their role in the creation or spread of the virus. Theto theconversations white supremacist monitored movement by ISD researchers are included. referenced the virus as a tool of social control, a purposefulMost plot curious to kill is offthe inclusioncertain populations, of the American or a means to make money for these individuals and their institutions,preacher all of whichand cult are leader unfounded Jim Jones, claims. who ISD’s ordered Digital the Analysis Unit is working on an ongoing basis to expose massand analyse suicide hateful of 917 disinformationof his followers campaignsin Jonestown, around COVID-19 and more broadly in the run up to theGuyana US 2020 in 1978.election, While informing the reference grassroots to Jones and couldpolicy responses. Our research will continue to track how disinformationbe a macabre and joke, weaponised it could also hate hint is being at a fascination used Figureduring 4. the election to marginalise communities, push divisivewith and narratives worship ofand violence undermine and mass democracy, killings usingthat a Examplesmix of data of content analytics, glorifying OSINT far-right research terrorists. and policy analysis.extends beyond ideological lines.

AnotherSummarised means below of support are the identified methodologies for extreme-right utilised terroristsby ISD researchers across the Telegramfor this investigation, channels were andcalls the for followerskey findings to write of lettersthe research. to imprisoned white supremacist terrorists to boost their morale. Alongside violent extremists, channels also made less-frequent calls to write letters of support for the imprisoned German HolocaustFor more denierinformation Ursula Haverbeck.on our ongoing research, including how you can get involved or support our work, please sign up to our mailing list, Callsor get for in violence touch at [email protected]. Beyond sharing propaganda of terrorist groups and the celebration of terrorists, some groups also actively called for violence. In most cases, these were general calls for violence against a specific group of people. ISD researchers identified calls for violence against a wide range of groups, including the LGBTQ+ community, police officers, journalists, those working in the tech sector, drug dealers, paedophiles and individuals working in the pornographic industry. In a number of instances, specific individuals were named as targets.13

12th May 2020 Far-right exploitation of Covid-19

ISDISD and BBC Click investigation Figure 5. Figure 6. Examples of ISDcalls forand violence. BBC Click Investigation analyses far right exploitationAn ofexample Covid-19 of an image calling for the rape of disinformation and uncovers massive volumes of engagementpolitical with opponents COVID-19 disinformation on Facebook. Certain channels are openly supportive of gendered violence, including rape and rape threats as a tactic of psychological warfare. This includes Investigationgeneral calls to use Briefing rape as anote: weapon and the discussion of targeted rapes against political opponents. Calls for rape are explicitly justified in strategic terms. In one text shared viaThis a post week, on Telegram, ISD released rape is a described pioneering as “an investigation extremely effective with BBCtool against Click, mappingour many foes, the asscale its general and usenature as a threat of online or direct disinformation usage against an around individual COVID-19 greatly reduces in the enemy US, as morale, well as and its strikes co-option a nameless by far fearright in their actors. hearts The.” This investigation highly concerning was featuredpreoccupation on BBC with World’sgender-based Click violence programme, itself highlights as well theas needon the for furtherBBC News research website into the. role misogyny has in violent white supremacist communities.

TacticalISD researchers material found that 34 known disinformation-hosting websites gathered the staggeringly high ISDvolume researchers of 80 million identified interactions numerous on tactical public Facebook documents between being Januaryshared andwhich April, could 2020. provide For context, useful in the intelligencesame time period, to prospective posts linking terrorists to the or WHO’s armed website groups. received These included 6.2 million links interactions to bomb-making, with the instructions, website of the materialUS Center on forhow Disease to improvise Control and (CDC) maintain receiving firearms 6.4 million and other interactions tactical equipment, through posts and on combat public tips.Facebook.

Our analysis – which revealed hundreds of thousands of far right posts around COVID-19 and millions of engagements with known disinformation sites – provides an important evidence base for understanding how extremist groups, disinformation actors and fringe medical communities are working to exploit the pandemic online, and highlights a marked increase in conversations within far right circles about so- called ‘elites’ including Bill Gates, George Soros, the Rothschilds and Jeff Bezos and false information about their role in the creation or spread of the virus. The conversations monitored by ISD researchers referenced the virus as a tool of social control, a purposeful plot to kill off certain populations, or a means to make money for these individuals and their institutions, all of which are unfounded claims. ISD’s Digital Analysis Unit is working on an ongoing basis to expose and analyse hateful disinformation campaigns around COVID-19Figure and 7. more broadly in the run up to the US 2020 election, informing grassroots and policy responses. OurExamples research of material will continue shared on totactical track channels. how disinformation and weaponised hate is being used during the election to marginalise communities, push divisive narratives and undermine democracy, using a mix of data analytics, OSINT research and policy analysis. Anti-minority content Within the network of white supremacist channels analysed, unfiltered expressions of hate towards Summarised below are the methodologies utilised by ISD researchers for this investigation, and the out-groups were commonplace. While antisemitism is particularly central for these channels, hateful key findings of the research. expressions towards Black people, Muslims and LGBTQ communities also play a significant role. In a number of instances, channels were specifically established to target particular minority communities and served as For more information on our ongoing research, including how you can get involved or support our hubs for the collation of material which ridicules, denigrates and calls for violence against these groups. work, please sign up to our mailing list, or get in touch at [email protected].

12th May 2020 Far-right exploitation of Covid-19

ISDISD and BBC Click investigation

ISD and BBC Click Investigation analyses far right exploitation of Covid-19 Figure 8. disinformationExamples of antisemitic, and uncovers anti-Muslim massive and anti-Black volumes (left), of engagement with COVID-19 antisemitic (centre) and anti-LGBTQdisinformation content (right). on Facebook.

Quantitative Textual Analysis Investigation Briefing note: This week, ISD released a pioneering investigation with BBC Click, mapping the scale and The analysis above provides a qualitative assessment of the risk posed by white supremacist Telegram channels,nature of which online act asdisinformation a hub to facilitate around coordination COVID-19 and mobilisation in the US, by as highly well dangerous as its co-option individuals by far andright groups actors. who Thein many investigation instances endorse was featured terrorist violence. on BBC To World’s gain a sense Click of programme, the proportion as of wellsuch as violenton the and BBC hateful News content, website ISD. conducted a keyword-based analysis of the text-based content within these channels based on the qualitative insights from our ethnographic research. ISD researchers found that 34 known disinformation-hosting websites gathered the staggeringly high Tovolume achieve of this, 80 million we extracted interactions 1,048,575 on public posts Facebook from across between the 208 January white and supremacist April, 2020. channels For context, that in we the monitoredsame time betweenperiod, posts 5 October linking 2016to the –WHO’s 28 May website 2020. Indicatingreceived 6.2 the million key role interactions played by images, with the and website videos of the onUS Telegram, Center for 217,707 Disease (20.7%) Control of (CDC) posts receiving did not contain 6.4 million any text. interactions The proportions through of posts text-free on public posts Facebook. differed between channels – ranging from 99% for certain content repositories focused on image or video content toOur 0.09% analysis of posts – which in the revealed case of hundreds some discussion of thousands groups. of Onfar rightaverage, posts 40% around of posts COVID-19 made in and channels millions of containedengagements no text with and known in 13 disinformationchannels less than sites a – quarter provides of ancomments important contained evidence text. base for understanding how extremist groups, disinformation actors and fringe medical communities are working to exploit the Thispandemic finding online, has important and highlights implications, a marked as it increasemeans that in conversationsour keyword analysis within only far rightcaptures circles part aboutof the so- relevantcalled ‘elites’ posts. Therefore,including weBill complemented Gates, George thisSoros, with the qualitative Rothschilds analysis and of Jeff visual Bezos elements and false within information these channels.about their In manyrole in instances, the creation we or identified spread of content the virus. inciting The conversations violence that monitoredwas presented by ISD in researchersthe format of memes,referenced videos the or virus images. as a tool of social control, a purposeful plot to kill off certain populations, or a means to make money for these individuals and their institutions, all of which are unfounded claims. ISD’s Digital Topic-basedAnalysis Unit analysis is working on an ongoing basis to expose and analyse hateful disinformation campaigns Wearound performed COVID-19 a narrative and more analysis broadly of thesein the 1,048,575 run up to the posts, US identifying2020 election, posts informing containing grassroots keywords and related policy toresponses. the following Our categories:research will continue to track how disinformation and weaponised hate is being used during the election to marginalise communities, push divisive narratives and undermine democracy, using a •mix Terrorist of data analytics,: Mentions OSINT of organisations research and that policy advocate analysis. for politically and ideologically motivated violence (such as Atomwaffen Division and The Base) and individuals who have engaged in politically Summarisedand ideologically below motivated are the methodologies attacks. utilised by ISD researchers for this investigation, and the key findings of the research. • Ideologues: Mentions of ideologues who have helped inspire politically and ideologically motivated Forattacks. more information on our ongoing research, including how you can get involved or support our •work, Literature please sign: Mentions up to ofour documents mailing lis andt, books that have been used to justify politically or getand in ideologically touch at [email protected] motivated attacks.. • Ideology: Mentions of terms and concepts that are linked to violent white supremacist mobilisation. • Violence: Mentions of terms associated with violent activity. • Boogaloo: Mentions of terminology associated with “boogaloo” – a term used to reference a second civil war.

• Anti-minority language: Othering and hateful12th languageMay 2020 used to target, denigrate and harass members of minority communities. • Minority communitiesFar-right: General discussion about exploitation minority communities.

In total we were able to identify 123,712of posts Covid-19containing language relating to the narratives outlined above, accounting for 14% of all posts made on these channels since 1 January 2020. See Figure 9.

TopicISD ISD and BBC Click investigationMentions Terrorists 1,580 Ideologues ISD and BBC Click Investigation analyses far right exploitation of Covid-19 5,728 Literaturedisinformation and uncovers massive volumes of engagement with COVID-192,157 Ideology disinformation on Facebook. 9,239 Violence 14,774 Investigation Briefing note: Boogaloo 1,535 Anti-minorityThis week, ISD released a pioneering investigation with BBC Click, mapping the scale and9,703 Anti-minoritynature of communities online disinformation around COVID-19 in the US, as well as its co-option by36,277 far right actors. The investigation was featured on BBC World’s Click programme, as well as Count of topic mention 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 on the BBC News website. Figure 9. TheISD number researchers of posts found containing that anti-minority 34 known anddisinformation-hosting violent narratives. websites gathered the staggeringly high volume of 80 million interactions on public Facebook between January and April, 2020. For context, in the same time period, posts linking to the WHO’s website received 6.2 million interactions, with the website of the Anti-minorityUS Center for Disease Control (CDC) receiving 6.4 million interactions through posts on public Facebook. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the category with the greatest volume of discussion was specific mentions of minorityOur analysis communities. – which revealed An analysis hundreds of a sample of thousands of 200 posts of far discussing right posts minority around COVID-19 communities and butmillions not of containingengagements explicit with anti-minority known disinformation slurs revealed sites that – provides all mentions an important of minority evidence groups base were for framed understanding in a hostile fashionhow extremist or contained groups, elements disinformation of “in-group/out-group” actors and fringe thinking,medical communities highlighting the are explicitworking and to exploitovert racism the presentpandemic across online, these and channels. highlights Out a ofmarked all channels increase examined, in conversations 183 (87.9%) within contained far right mentions circles of about minority so- communitiescalled ‘elites’ or including explicit anti-minority Bill Gates, Georgeslurs. On Soros, closer the examination, Rothschilds the andchannels Jeff whichBezos and did falsenot contain information explicitabout theiranti-minority role in the slurs creation or discussion or spread of of minority the virus. communities The conversations were found monitored to primarily by ISD host researchers image andreferenced video-based the virus content. as a toolThis ofwas social not capturedcontrol, a by purposeful our text-based plot to analysis, kill off certainbut was populations, still closely relatedor a means to extremistto make moneyand anti-minority for these individuals mobilisation. and their institutions, all of which are unfounded claims. ISD’s Digital Analysis Unit is working on an ongoing basis to expose and analyse hateful disinformation campaigns Thearound scale COVID-19 and widespread and more nature broadly of this in the content run up is toparticularly the US 2020 important election, as informingit demonstrates grassroots how andTelegram policy hasresponses. become Our an essential research hubwill continuefor material to trackthat would how disinformation breach the terms and of weaponised use for other hate social is being media used platformsduring the − electionproviding to a marginalisesafe space for communities, overtly hateful push communities divisive narratives to form. and undermine democracy, using a mix of data analytics, OSINT research and policy analysis. Violent and terrorist content ViolentSummarised terminology below was are the the second methodologies most prevalent utilised category by ISD in researchers our data-set, for and this was investigation, found in 179 and the channelskey findings (86% ofof thethe total).research. In many instances, this included a general discussion of violent activity, including a focus on violent acts committed by minorities which are used as justification of hateful and dehumanisingFor more information discussion on of our whole ongoing communities. research, Approximately including how 10% you of thecan content get involved containing or support violent our terminologywork, please contained sign up todirect our callsmailing for violence list, against individuals or groups of people, including at least one threator get to in an touch elected at [email protected]. .

Going beyond a simple keyword analysis in order to identify potentially concerning content, researchers also analysed how many channels contained combinations of different categories that could indicate readiness for violence. For example, 14 channels contained mentions of terrorism, violent terminology and anti-minority slurs while 52 channels contained mentions of terrorism and explicitly violent terminology. Further analysis of these channels could help to isolate concrete calls for violence.

12th May 2020 We found explicit mentions of white supremacist terrorists and terrorist organisations in 125 (60%) of the channels we monitored.Far-right These mentions often exploitation contained links to manifesto documents published by individuals who had committed attacks, literature which expressly endorsed terrorist activity, and in some cases celebration of the anniversariesof Covid-19 of high-profile attacks. This highlights how discussion of violent individuals and groups is spread beyond the 50 channels studied that ISD had identified as specifically serving to promote politically motivated violence, or glorify individuals who have committed attacks.

It shouldISD be notedISD that even and in channels BBC which glorify Click terrorists or investigationacts of terrorism or promote ideologues or literature which have helped justify political violence, violent content is usually not the sole type of message shared.ISD and A furtherBBC Click analysis Investigation was conducted analyses to assess farhow right many exploitation channels frequently of Covid-19 shared violent content. In five channels, mention of terrorism occurred in more than 10% of posts, and in nine channels mentiondisinformation of extremist ideologues and uncovers occurred massivein more than volumes 10% of posts. of engagement Similarly, five channelswith COVID-19 were identified in which mentions of violencedisinformation occurred in more on than Facebook. 10% of posts (in two cases these posts made up over 30% each). Even though channels which only occasionally use violent terminology or glorify terrorism (eg, on the anniversaries of attacks)Investigation should still Briefing be of concern, note: priority should be given to channels in which this content has a greater share of the overall output. This week, ISD released a pioneering investigation with BBC Click, mapping the scale and Discussionsnature of online of civil disinformation war around COVID-19 in the US, as well as its co-option by far Inright addition actors. to an The explicit investigation discussion of wasterrorists featured and terrorist on BBC organisations, World’s Click 117 programme, out of the 208 aschannels well as analysedon the BBCby ISD News researchers website for. this project contain discussions around the “boogaloo”, an online meme referring to a second US civil war.14 ISD researchers found that 34 known disinformation-hosting websites gathered the staggeringly high Discussion of “boogaloo” in the context of armed insurrection dates back to at least June 2018 and has volume of 80 million interactions on public Facebook between January and April, 2020. For context, in the become commonplace in libertarian and anti-government circles online in recent months. ISD research same time period, posts linking to the WHO’s website received 6.2 million interactions, with the website of the has traced the growth of the movement during the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying 200,000 posts that US Center for Disease Control (CDC) receiving 6.4 million interactions through posts on public Facebook. contained the word “boogaloo” across social media, with 52% on Twitter, 22% on Reddit, 12% on Tumblr and 11% on 4chan and Voat.15 Our analysis – which revealed hundreds of thousands of far right posts around COVID-19 and millions of engagements with known disinformation sites – provides an important evidence base for understanding There is some evidence of connections between white supremacist communities and these how extremist groups, disinformation actors and fringe medical communities are working to exploit the anti-government groups.16 This included the sharing of instructional material which has been widely pandemic online, and highlights a marked increase in conversations within far right circles about so- shared in “boogaloo” groups on Facebook and suggests that as a platform Telegram provides a called ‘elites’ including Bill Gates, George Soros, the Rothschilds and Jeff Bezos and false information network that can connect overtly racist and terrorist-supporting white supremacists with organised, about their role in the creation or spread of the virus. The conversations monitored by ISD researchers armed anti-government militias.17 referenced the virus as a tool of social control, a purposeful plot to kill off certain populations, or a means to make money for these individuals and their institutions, all of which are unfounded claims. ISD’s Digital Evidence gathered by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), which has been Analysis Unit is working on an ongoing basis to expose and analyse hateful disinformation campaigns monitoring mobilisation by 125 “boogaloo” groups on Facebook, highlights around COVID-19 and more broadly in the run up to the US 2020 election, informing grassroots and policy that while some members on Facebook disavow racism there are other responses. Our research will continue to track how disinformation and weaponised hate is being used members of this community who advance extremist anti-minority rhetoric.18 during the election to marginalise communities, push divisive narratives and undermine democracy, using a This is supported by research from the Southern Poverty Law Center which mix of data analytics, OSINT research and policy analysis. traces the history of “boogaloo” groups back to extremist communities online.19 In at least one instance, TTP researchers also found evidence of an influential Summarised below are the methodologies utilised by ISD researchers for this investigation, and the racist from the “boogaloo” community seeking to direct members of the group key findings of the research. Figure 10. onto Telegram to escape content-moderation efforts by Facebook, suggesting A meme calling for “Boogaloo” that there is a conscious effort to bring militia groups into more explicitly supportersFor more and information accelerationist on our ongoing research, including how you can get involved or support our supremacist networks. groupswork, to please join forces sign in up to our mailing list, armed conflict. or get in touch at [email protected]. In line with these findings, ISD identified channels containing references to both “boogaloo” and white supremacist ideologues (14 channels), white supremacist literature (35 channels), white supremacist ideology (59 channels) and anti-minority slurs (57 channels). Ten channels contained explicit references to both “boogaloo” and terrorism. Although occurring in relatively low volume, the crossover of discussion of “boogaloo” into violent white supremacist groups operating on Telegram identified in this analysis potentially highlights a bridge between the well-armed “boogaloo” community and ideologically motivated white supremacist accelerationists. This also demonstrates that the movement is

www.isdglobal.orgwww.isdglobal.org POPO Box Box 75769 75769 | London| London | SW1P| SW1P 9ER 9ER | UK| UK 101 Covid-19 disinformation briefingISD briefing No.3 Far-right exploitationA Safe Space of Covid-19 to Hate mobilising across platforms, building up alternative12th presencesMay 2020 across the online-ecosystem that will absorb the shock of any removal madeFar-right by single platforms. exploitation In addition to drawing on wider narratives of a second civil war, calls for insurrectional violence by white supremacist Telegram channels often advocateof Covid-19 for accelerating what they believe is the inevitable breakdown of western society through acts of violence and terrorism (known as accelerationism). These specific calls for violence often merge with calls for a race war or “RaHoWa” (Racial Holy War), drawing on long-established white supremacist tropes. ISDISD and BBC Click investigation Outlook – Building the Analytical Infrastructure to Detect and Mitigate Threats ISD and BBC Click Investigation analyses far right exploitation of Covid-19 For thisdisinformation report, ISD researchers and uncovers identified andmassive analysed volumes the content of engagementof 208 channels withused byCOVID-19 white supremacists on Telegram that mainly focus on the US context. The dangerous nature of content shared on Telegram coupled with the relatively opendisinformation nature of the platformon Facebook. means that the risk posed by the platform as a hub for violent mobilisation should be carefully considered. Investigation Briefing note: The scale of explicitly and transparently violent content encountered during the analysis is staggering. WhileThis most week, individuals ISD released who follow a pioneering pro-terrorist investigation channels or engage with in BBC white Click, supremacist mapping discussion the scale groups and onnature Telegram of onlinewill not disinformationgo on to commit acts around of violence, COVID-19 the regular in the calls US, for as violence well as made its co-option to audiences by of far thousandsright actors. of users The increase investigation the risk that was a minority featured of onthem BBC eventually World’s will. Click As governments programme, become as well more as awareon the of theBBC risk News posed website by white. supremacist violence, it is essential that novel resources and approaches are trialled which allow for the detection of concrete threats coming from these communities. ISD researchers found that 34 known disinformation-hosting websites gathered the staggeringly high The scale of explicitly and transparently violent content regularly shared in these channels is beyond the volume of 80 million interactions on public Facebook between January and April, 2020. For context, in the capacity of researchers or civil society organisations monitoring them manually. To fill this gap, it will be key same time period, posts linking to the WHO’s website received 6.2 million interactions, with the website of the to build an analytical infrastructure for an early warning system to enable the semi-automated detection US Center for Disease Control (CDC) receiving 6.4 million interactions through posts on public Facebook. of material related to violent white supremacist mobilisation. By using a combination of ethnographic monitoring and machine learning technologies such as natural language processing, specific threats Our analysis – which revealed hundreds of thousands of far right posts around COVID-19 and millions of originating within white supremacist channels, especially against targeted individuals or soft targets such as engagements with known disinformation sites – provides an important evidence base for understanding community centres, religious institutions or activist groups, could be identified and mitigated. As automated how extremist groups, disinformation actors and fringe medical communities are working to exploit the analyses of user-generated content poses genuine concerns over privacy, data sharing and surveillance, pandemic online, and highlights a marked increase in conversations within far right circles about so- these need to be sensitively managed with appropriate procedures and safeguards in place. called ‘elites’ including Bill Gates, George Soros, the Rothschilds and Jeff Bezos and false information about their role in the creation or spread of the virus. The conversations monitored by ISD researchers referenced the virus as a tool of social control, a purposeful plot to kill off certain populations, or a means to make money for these individuals and their institutions, all of which are unfounded claims. ISD’s Digital Analysis Unit is working on an ongoing basis to expose and analyse hateful disinformation campaigns around COVID-19 and more broadly in the run up to the US 2020 election, informing grassroots and policy responses. Our research will continue to track how disinformation and weaponised hate is being used during the election to marginalise communities, push divisive narratives and undermine democracy, using a mix of data analytics, OSINT research and policy analysis.

Summarised below are the methodologies utilised by ISD researchers for this investigation, and the key findings of the research.

For more information on our ongoing research, including how you can get involved or support our work, please sign up to our mailing list, or get in touch at [email protected].

About the Authors 12th May 2020

Jakob Guhl is a Coordinator atFar-right the ISD, where he mainly exploitation works with the digital research team. Jakob has co-authored research reports on the alternative online-ecosystem of the far-right, reciprocal radicalisation between far-right extremistsof andCovid-19 Islamists, coordinated trolling campaigns, hate speech, and disinformation campaigns targeting elections. He is a frequent commentator on German radio and broadcast channels, including Deutschlandfunk, Tagesthemen and Radio Eins. Jakob has been invited to present his research about online hate to the German Ministry of Justice and provided evidence to the German Minister of the Interior and Family Minister on how to strengthen prevention against right-wing extremismISD ISDand antisemitism. and His researchBBC has beenClick cited in the investigation New Republic, Die Welt, Die Zeit and The Guardian, among others. Additionally, he has published articles in the Journal for Deradicalisation, DemokratieISD and gegen BBC Menschenfeindlichkeit, Click Investigation Taz analyses and co-authored far right an essayexploitation for an edited of Covid-19volume of the Munichdisinformation Residence Theatre and aboutuncovers the origins massive of contemporary volumes politicalof engagement anger. with COVID-19 Jacob Davey is a Senior Research Managerdisinformation at the ISD where on he Facebook. leads research on the extreme right-wing and hate groups. His work focuses on mapping extreme right-wing mobilisation globally, the development of new software for tracking hate speechInvestigation online, and Briefing the intersection note: of hate and disinformation. His recent research outputs have looked at how extreme right-wing movements connect across borders, Thisthe week,mainstreaming ISD released of extremist a pioneering ideology and investigation conspiracy theories, with BBC disinformation Click, mapping campaigns the andscale and naturederadicalisation of online work. disinformation Jacob regularly around advises seniorCOVID-19 policymakers in the US, and asdelivers well lecturesas its co-option on extreme by far rightright actors. ideology, The and investigation he has provided was expert featured testimony on to BBC the UK World’s Home ClickAffairs programme, Select Committee. as well Jacob’s as research has been featured in a range of publications and media outlets including the BBC, the Guardian, on the BBC News website. The Times, The New York Times, El Pais, Sky News, CNN and The Hill. Jacob is a fellow at the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right. ISD researchers found that 34 known disinformation-hosting websites gathered the staggeringly high volume of 80 million interactions on public Facebook between January and April, 2020. For context, in the same time period, posts linking to the WHO’s website received 6.2 million interactions, with the website of the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) receiving 6.4 million interactions through posts on public Facebook.

Summarised below are the methodologies utilised by ISD researchers for this investigation, and the key findings of the research.

For more information on our ongoing research, including how you can get involved or support our work, please sign up to our mailing list, or get in touch at [email protected].

Footnotes 12th May 2020 Far-right exploitation 01 Institute for Economics & Peace, Global Terrorism Index 2019: Measuring the Impact of Terrorism, November 2019, http://visionofhumanity.org/app/uploads/2019/11/GTI-2019web.pdfof Covid-19. 02 Slate, Telegram Was Built for Democracy Activists. White Nationalists Love It (8 August 2019), https://slate.com/technology/2019/08/telegram-white-nationalists-el-paso-shooting-facebook.html. [accessed on 24 June 2020]. 03 ProgramISD onISD Extremism, Georgeand Washington BBC University, EncryptedClick Extremism: investigation Inside the English-speaking Islamic State Ecosystem on Telegram (June 2019), https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs2191/f/EncryptedExtremism.pdf. 04 Europol,ISD Europol and and BBC Telegram Click take Investigation on terrorist propaganda analyses online (25far November right exploitation 2019), of Covid-19 https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/europol-and-telegram-take-terrorist-propaganda-online. [accesseddisinformation on 24 June 2020] and uncovers massive volumes of engagement with COVID-19

05 Telegram Terms of Service. Available onlinedisinformation at: https://telegram.org/tos on Facebook..

06 For the purpose of this research, we defineInvestigation white supremacy Briefingas: “The belief note:in the superiority of whites over non-whites, and that white people should be politically and socially dominant over non-white people. This can extend to a belief in the need for violence against, or even the genocide of, non-white people.” This week, ISD released a pioneering investigation with BBC Click, mapping the scale and 07 Bellingcat, The Boogaloo movement is not what you think (27 May 2020), naturehttps://www.bellingcat.com/news/2020/05/27/the-boogaloo-movement-is-not-what-you-think/ of online disinformation around COVID-19 in the US, as well as its. co-option by far right[accessed actors. on 24 The June investigation 2020]. was featured on BBC World’s Click programme, as well as on the BBC News website. 08 Politico, State pushes to list white supremacist group as terrorist org (9 March 2020), https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/09/state-department-white-supremacist-group-124500. ISD [accessedresearchers on 24 found June 2020].that 34 known disinformation-hosting websites gathered the staggeringly high volume of 80 million interactions on public Facebook between January and April, 2020. For context, in the 09same Please time note period, it is our posts policy linking not to to directly the WHO’s link to extremist website content received or channels. 6.2 million Should interactions it be required, with for academic the website or journal of the- istic purposes, a full list of the channels studied in this work will be provided upon request. US Center for Disease Control (CDC) receiving 6.4 million interactions through posts on public Facebook. 10 “Shitposting” can be defined as regularly posting something nonsensical, surreal, and ironic online – often in order to bait Ourpeople analysis into – a whichreaction. revealed hundreds of thousands of far right posts around COVID-19 and millions of 11engagements Home Office, with Proscribed known Terrorist disinformation Organisations sites (February – provides 2020), https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/an important evidence base for understanding howuploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/869496/20200228_Proscription.pdf extremist groups, disinformation actors and fringe medical communities; Government are working of Canada, to exploit Listed the terror - pandemicist entities, online, https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ntnl-scrt/cntr-trrrsm/lstd-ntts/crrnt-lstd-ntts-en.aspx and highlights a marked increase in conversations within far right circles. about so- called ‘elites’ including Bill Gates, George Soros, the Rothschilds and Jeff Bezos and false information 12 Hope Not Hate, State of Hate 2020. Far Right Terror goes Global, abouthttps://www.hopenothate.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/state-of-hate-2020-final.pdf their role in the creation or spread of the virus. The conversations monitored. by ISD researchers referenced the virus as a tool of social control, a purposeful plot to kill off certain populations, or a means 13to makeFor content money flagged for these by researchers individuals as concerning, and their ISD institutions, conducts a allrisk of assessment which are and unfounded in cases in whichclaims. there ISD’s appears Digital to be Analysisa tangible Unit threat, is working the content on an will ongoing be brought basis to the to attention expose ofand law analyse enforcement hateful and otherdisinformation relevant parties. campaigns 14around Know COVID-19 your meme, and https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/boogaloo more broadly in the run up to the US 2020. election, informing grassroots and policy responses. Our research will continue to track how disinformation and weaponised hate is being used 15during ISD, theCOVID-19 election disinformation to marginalise briefing communities, no. 2,https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Covid-Briefing-2.pdf push divisive narratives and undermine democracy, using . a 16mix ADL, of data The Boogaloo:analytics, Extremists’ OSINT research New Slang and Term policy for A Cominganalysis. Civil War (26 November 2019), https://www.adl.org/blog/the-boogaloo-extremists-new-slang-term-for-a-coming-civil-war. [accessed on 24 June 2020]. Summarised below are the methodologies utilised by ISD researchers for this investigation, and the 17 Bellingcat, The Boogaloo Movement Is Not What You Think (27 May 2020), keyhttps://www.bellingcat.com/news/2020/05/27/the-boogaloo-movement-is-not-what-you-think/ findings of the research. . [accessed on 24 June 2020]. For more information on our ongoing research, including how you can get involved or support our 18work, Tech please Transparency sign upProject, to our Extremists mailing Are lis Usingt, Facebook to Organize for Civil War Amid Coronavirus (22 April 2020), or gethttps://www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/extremists-are-using-facebook-to-organize-for-civil-war-amid-coronavirus in touch at [email protected]. . [accessed on 24 June 2020].

19 SPLC, The “Boogaloo” Started as a Racist Meme (5 June 2020), https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2020/06/05/boogaloo-started-racist-meme. [accessed on 24 June 2020].

About ISD

We are a global team of data analysts, researchers, innovators, policy-experts, practitioners and activists - powering solutions to extremism, hate and polarisation. The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) is an independent nonprofit organisation dedicated to safeguarding human rights and reversing the rising global tide of hate, extremism and polarisation. We combine sector-leading expertise in global extremist movements with advanced digital analysis of disinformation and weaponised hate to deliver innovative, tailor-made policy and operational responses to these threats. Over the past decade, we have watched hate groups and extremist movements deploy increasingly sophisticated international propaganda, influence and recruitment operations, skillfully leveraging digital technology, and often boosted by hostile state actors. Alongside an exponential spike in violence (conflict, hate crime, terrorism), societies around the world are being polarised. At ballot boxes, populists have made significant gains and authoritarian nationalism is on the rise. If left unchecked, these trends will existentially threaten open, free and cohesive civic culture, undermine democratic institutions and put our communities at risk. Progress on the major global challenges of our time – climate change, migration, equality, public health – threatens to be derailed.

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