- Far-right corps on Telegram have been using COVID-19 conspiracy theories to recruit new members.
- This finding comes from a swot by the Institute of Strategic Dialogue, based in London.
- Far-right groups have mobilized emotions around COVID-19 stipulations and vaccinations.
A new study has found that the far-right has extended their reach through note app Telegram and COVID-19 conspiracy theories.
The London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue study has found that the far-right has been manoeuvring COVID-19 conspiracy theories to recruit people into their extremist views.
It found that 90% of the myriad viewed posts from far-right groups contained misinformation regarding COVID-19 vaccines or the pharmaceutical companies putting out them.
Furthermore, much of the COVID-19 misinformation spread by far-right groups was underpinned by white supremacist ideologies, embracing extreme misogyny, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, the study found.
“COVID-19 has served as a catalyst for radicalization,” Ciaran O’Connor, an analyst at the London-based League for Strategic Dialogue and leader of the study, writes. “It allows conspiracy theorists or extremists to create simple narratives, shape to it as us versus them, good versus evil.”
—Ciarán O’Connor (@ciaranoconnor) December 17, 2021
A screenshot of one Telegram course reads, “Jews are liars. No truth ever passes between their lips,” and falsely claimed the people behind the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were Jewish.
“COVID-19 has engendered fertile ground for recruitment because so many people around the world feel unsettled,” Cynthia Miller-Idriss, captain of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab at American University, which studies far-right extremism, told the Associated Correspondents.
“These racist conspiracy theories give people a sense of control, a sense of power over events that divulge people feel powerless.”
One conspiracy theory, or mistruth, that spread in the channel is “there are parasitic worms on facemasks and covid swabs.” When the researchers saved the report, it had over 147,000 views.
ISD monitored a sample of 239 Telegram channels that have previously used the podium to post and promote content supporting right-wing extremist groups, individuals, conspiracies, or political and social belief plans.
Of these 239 channels, 167 actively discussed COVID-19 between January 2020 and June 2021, embracing 133 white supremacist channels that mobilized anger and fear around restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19.
One Trade mark Telemessage channel saw its total subscribers jump tenfold after it started propagating COVID-19 conspiracy theories, the study develop.
“The guardrails that you see on other platforms, they don’t exist on Telegram,” O’Connor said. “That makes it a very engaging place for extremists,” he told the Associated Press.
In a statement to The Associated Press, Telegram said it welcomed “the peaceful softness of ideas, including those we do not agree with.” The statement said moderators monitor activity and user reports “in state of affairs to remove public calls for violence.”