The Program on Extremism at George Washington University, which “provides analysis on issues related to violent and non-violent extremism,” has just released a comparative study of the Online Social Media Networks of ISIS (The Islamic State) and white nationalists (not limited to the United States). The major findings of the study are as follows:
1. Major American white nationalist movements on Twitter added about 22,000 followers since 2012, an increase of about 600%. The increase was driven in part by organized social media activism, organic growth in the adoption of social media by people interested in white nationalism, and, to some extent, the rise of organized trolling communities seeking to flood social media platforms with negative content, regardless of participants’ actual beliefs.
2. The most popular theme among white nationalists on Twitter was the concept of “white genocide,” the notion that the “white race” is directly endangered by the increasing diversity of society. Social media activists tweeted hundreds of times per day using repetitive hashtags and slogans associated with this trope.
3. Followers of white nationalists on Twitter were heavily invested in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. White nationalist users referenced Trump more than almost any other topic, and Trump-related hashtags outperformed every white nationalist hashtag except for #whitegenocide within the sets of users examined.
After #whitegenocide, the most popular hashtags were #TCOP (Top Conservatives On Twitter), #Trump2016 and #Trump amongst white nationalists and neo-Nazis and their sympathizers.
Politico writes:
Trump and his campaign have repeatedly disavowed any and all endorsements from white supremacists, which became a campaign issue after the candidate appeared reluctant earlier this year to disavow [David] Duke's support, later blaming his response on a "lousy earpiece" from CNN.
Trump may (belatedly) disavow notorious white supremacists such as David Duke, but after his latest speech on immigration, if it sounds like a duck and walks like a duck, it probably ain’t a giraffe.