This Insight summarises some of the findings presented in the article “Far-right virtual communities: Exploring users and uses of far-right pages on social media” published in the Journal of Alternative & Community Media (Gagnon 2022).
It is increasingly documented that individuals connect with communities of relatively like-minded people through their use of far-right pages on social media. What requires further exploration is whether an individual’s participation within these virtual communities reflects their views of those outside of the community. Specifically, does the Manichaean worldview promoted on these pages, that is a vision of the world as divided into ‘us’ and ‘them’, ‘good’ and ‘bad’, translate into their view of themselves and the rest of society? This Insight outlines the findings of 34 interviews conducted with users of the public Facebook page of the radical right organisation La Meute (The Wolfpack) in Quebec, Canada.
The analysis shows that, through far-right pages on social media, individuals connect with a virtual community of relatively like-minded people that is conceived in opposition to the rest of society, whom they consider insufficiently critical of mainstream media and immigration-related issues. Boundaries delineating the virtual community from the rest of society vary depending on whether users relied on far-right pages as a main source of information or as a complement to information presented in mainstream media. These boundaries are particularly pronounced among individuals who consume far-right pages on social media as their main source of information, reinforcing their identification with the online community while vilifying the mainstream.
Users of Far-Right Pages on Social Media
Users of far-right pages on social media are particularly critical of mainstream media. Individuals that participate on these pages tend to legitimise worldviews expressed by the ‘good’ people, as opposed to those expressed by the ‘corrupt’ elites (including journalists, experts, and political elites). For example, users tend to delegitimise expert knowledge and evidence but validate the experiences and common sense of other users. In this respect, social media circumvents ‘the elites’, while addressing and giving a voice to ‘the people’ who feel that their views are silenced by the established order.
Despite their mistrust of mainstream media, users of far-right pages on social media have different media diets: some are frequent users and others are occasional users. This can be explained by their motivations to consume such pages. Some users are highly sceptical of mainstream media and thus actively support the information provided on the pages on social media they consume, or information about specific topics that are addressed by these pages. Other users casually seek alternative positions on these pages.
That said, whether users occasionally or frequently consume far-right pages on social media, they voluntarily decide to come together to stay informed about certain issues and exchange ideas. By doing so, they create a virtual community centred around nativism (e.g., united through heritage or whiteness) and potential threats to the nation (e.g., immigrants, Muslims). But does being part of a far-right virtual community translate into a particular view of themselves and those in society who do not share their perspective?
Patterns of Media Use and Practices
This research draws on 34 in-person interviews with users of La Meute’s Facebook page. La Meute is a radical right organisation in Quebec founded in 2015 to oppose the arrival of 25,000 Syrian refugees in Canada. La Meute has organised street-based protest actions in the past few years, but most of their activities and practices take place on Facebook. All interviewees spend time on La Meute’s Facebook page to read the posts, and react, comment, and exchange with other users of the page. Some also use pages on social media that are located at the extreme right of the political spectrum. As such, the term far right is mobilised throughout this research to capture both the radical and the extreme right.
Users of La Meute’s Facebook page perceive that far-right pages on social media represent an important source of information. Specifically, these pages allow them to explore what those they qualify as ‘ordinary people’ and ‘independent experts’ think about certain issues. As demonstrated in other studies, these individuals have different patterns of media use and practices: some use far-right pages on social media as their main source of information, and others use these pages to complement the information provided in mainstream media. Interviewee 9 stated:
“I read about different topics on La Meute’s [Facebook] page; I read different articles to know what exactly is going on. I find that it allows me to have a more critical mind, because we should not believe everything that is said [in mainstream media]. What is said and the reality are often two different things. So La Meute gives us information, and the more information we have, the more we are able to make informed decisions. It is a tool to enlighten people.”
The perspective of Interviewee 9 was shared among other participants. The interviewee indicates a scepticism of mainstream media. However, this does not prevent her from consuming them. She uses a variety of sources of information to gain more knowledge on various topics. As she explains, La Meute’s Facebook page is “a tool” (among others) “to enlighten people.” As such, some interviewees use far-right pages on social media as one source of information among others to inform themselves. They perceived mainstream media as not always objective or telling the whole story.
In contrast, other interviewees use far-right pages on social media as their main source of information. These interviewees reported consuming mainstream media mostly in order to criticise them or to see what the rest of society is exposed to. For example, Interviewee 7 tends to immerse himself in far-right content to make sense of his concern related to (Muslim) immigration and to inform himself in general. He explained that his concern started in the aftermath of 9/11: he was not satisfied with the information provided by mainstream media to explain these attacks and began to explore far-right content online. The more he consumed alternative sources of information online, particularly far-right pages on Facebook and YouTube, he explains, the more his feeling of media alienation grew, and the more time he spent consuming these sources of information:
In 2002, I listened to a documentary that began to cast doubt on the real causes of the attacks, and I spent at least several thousand hours [doing research] on this. Listen, I know everything about September 11, 2001. And I came to the conclusion that the official version could not be true. And then I said to myself: ‘If we can be lied to on such an important topic, what else can we be lied on? On absolutely everything!’ And that’s when my obsession to know the truth took off.
Far-right pages on social media provide Interviewee 7 with explanations that are coherent with his views and validate his perception of an impending security threat that Muslims would pose to Western societies.
These examples illustrate the way users of far-right pages on social media are compelled by narratives contesting mainstream information and worldviews. Although interviewees have varying degrees of distrust in mainstream media and different patterns of media use and practices, they all legitimise ordinary people’s experiences and knowledge, while delegitimising journalists’ account of events.
The Virtual Community and the Rest of Society
Beyond seeking information through far-right pages on social media, users of La Meute’s Facebook page connect with a community of relatively like-minded individuals. Far-right pages on social media provide a platform where people who share similar views and interests can meet and exchange. As Interviewee 17 explains, following La Meute’s Facebook page allowed him to “meet people like me, people who think like me”.
Like members of any other type of community, users of far-right pages on social media place boundaries delimiting who is part of the group and who is not. For interviewees, people who “probably think the same but do not want to expose themselves” (Interviewee 13) or who “blindly” (Interviewee 16) consume mainstream media are viewed as “the Others”. Specifically, just like users of La Meute’s Facebook page perceive that other users share some degree of like-mindedness, they feel that people that are outside of the virtual community do not really understand the potential threats of immigration and radical Islam. Other people who think differently would not realise or would not want to see the ‘facts’.
In this regard, however, the analysis shows variations in terms of interviewees’ perceptions of Quebecers who do not share their views. Interviewees who consume far-right pages on social media as their primary source of information tend to perceive a wider and more clearly defined gap between members of the virtual community and the rest of society compared to interviewees who consume these media to complement mainstream media. As an illustration, when asked if her friends or relatives also follow La Meute’s Facebook page, Interviewee 10 explained that, outside of the virtual community, she does not talk much about immigration and politics with the people in her daily life because they simply would not be interested in being informed about these topics:
“Pff! Most of them are sheep! People around me are sheep. I mean; they are not interested in knowing more. So we don’t talk about politics. I don’t consider myself politicized, but… I like to see things clearly. I don’t like to be told stories. But I am the only one!”
In some cases, interviewees’ perceptions of not being able to share their (radical or extreme) views or of not seeing eye to eye with people around them create friction with their friends or relatives because they are not critical enough of immigration-related issues and mainstream media. For example, Interviewee 32 perceives that his friends and relatives are “sheep”; they make no effort to understand what he regards as ‘the threat’ of Muslims. He thus avoids talking about politics with them and relies on social media to have real conversations with like-minded individuals.
Social media constitute a crucial environment for the creation of virtual communities composed of relatively like-minded individuals. Beyond perceptions of commonalities and shared interests, it can lead some individuals to develop perceptions of significant differences between members of the virtual community and the rest of society, thus undermining their relationship with their loved ones and other people around them.
Concluding Remarks
Users of far-right pages on social media, whether they use them as a main source of information or as a complement to information presented in mainstream media, voluntarily choose to be exposed to large amounts of (negative) information about immigration and to favour a certain worldview. This exposure has the potential to amplify or create a sense of urgency about what they perceive as the threat of (Muslim) immigration. By selectively exposing themselves to such content, users of far-right pages on social media risk reinforcing their mistrust toward mainstream media and amplifying their concerns about immigration.
Moreover, through far-right pages on social media, individuals connect with a virtual community of relatively like-minded people that is conceived in opposition to the rest of society who would not share their critical stances toward immigration and mainstream media. For those who use far-right pages on social media as their main source of information, the boundaries delineating the virtual community tend to be particularly pronounced and can even undermine their relationship with friends and relatives who do not share their views, as they would not want to see the ‘truth’.
These findings suggest that users of these pages tend to reconstruct far-right perspectives in their everyday lives. They reproduce a Manichean worldview in which they portray themselves as ‘critical’ or ‘awake’ and the rest of society as ‘sheep’ or ‘asleep’, reinforcing their identification with the community while vilifying others. This worldview is particularly concerning as it can generate or increase feelings of social and political alienation and isolation – two factors that are associated with conspiracy beliefs. The virtual community risks becoming a “community of radicalisation” in which adherents are drawn closer to others who share their views and beliefs and are increasingly isolated from those who do not. These findings emphasise the importance of finding ways of reaching these people and exposing them to counter-narratives.
Dr Audrey Gagnon is a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX), University of Oslo. Her research interests include the normalisation of the far right, opinions about immigration, as well as far-right and right-wing populist movements.