Introduction
With the rise of the far and extreme right globally, Brazil has experienced a significant increase in the proliferation and consumption of extremist content, particularly following the Bolsonaro administration, culminating in the attack on the Republic’s institutions on 8 January 2023.
In recent years, the number of crimes related to violent extremism in Brazil has grown alarmingly, particularly school attacks. Platforms such as TikTok, various chans, and more have been used extensively to share extremist content. Furthermore, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the creation and recommendation of content has contributed to the widespread dissemination of these materials.
While much of this content is disseminated through social media and messaging platforms, music on streaming platforms has also emerged as a subtle yet powerful medium for spreading extremist ideologies, using lyrics and themes that resonate with disillusioned and marginalised audiences.
This Insight will analyse how certain songs available on music platforms in Brazil are associated with the dissemination of extremist content and how these platforms facilitate the distribution of such material.
The analysis identifies a range of artists on platforms such as YouTube and Spotify whose lyrics and styles reflect the radical ideologies found in forums like 55chan (the Brazilian equivalent of 4chan) and Dogolachan. Many of these artists were initially discovered through discussions in niche communities on Reddit and threads on 55chan, where users often share and promote music that aligns with their extremist views. These forums act as breeding grounds for the dissemination of such content, enabling users to introduce lesser-known artists who echo the frustrations and narratives of these communities.
From Extremist Forums to Audio Platforms
The lyrical persona in extremist music reflects sentiments of exclusion and violence, widely disseminated in digital subcultures of the alt-right, such as redpill, blackpill, and incel ideologies. These subcultures have been associated with violent crimes in Brazil, planned and executed by individuals involved in these toxic communities. The predominant ideology revolves around the dehumanisation of the “other”, engaging young individuals in discussions of mutilation, death, and misogyny. Violence is often promoted as a legitimate response to their frustrations, reinforcing hate speech against minorities, women, and marginalised groups.
Music has been a powerful tool for the dissemination of racist and extremist ideologies. Online platforms – including Spotify – amplify these messages, facilitating the spread and normalisation of these ideologies. Movements like the alt-right also adapt popular genres, such as pop and hip-hop, to attract new adherents, subtly shifting users’ musical preferences while promoting songs with messages of superiority and hate, while avoiding explicit neo-Nazi symbols.
In a recent police operation across five Brazilian states, authorities arrested individuals suspected of involvement in neo-Nazi activities, including members of a heavy metal band that employed symbols such as the Black Sun and performed at extremist events. This case highlights a trend in which extremist groups exploit cultural platforms, such as music, to disseminate hate ideologies and facilitate the recruitment of new adherents.
Brazilian artists – intentionally unnamed to avoid amplifying their content – such as Artist A and Artist B, identified in our research on YouTube Music and Spotify, exemplify this trend with songs filled with racist, misogynistic, and violent themes. Artist A‘s lyrics are aggressive, targeting women involved in extremist online communities. Artist B, with a satirical tone, addresses themes such as corruption and suicide and perpetuates harmful stereotypes linked to the red pill ideology. While some of these artists’ content has been removed from certain platforms, it remains accessible on sites like YouTube and YouTube Music, highlighting the challenges in controlling the spread of such material.
Ela é parda, nordestina / She is mixed-race, from the Northeast.
Mas, paga de neonazista / But acts like a neo-Nazi.
Humor negro questionável / Questionable dark humour.
Pra validação de macho / Seeking male validation.
Other artists, like Artist C, promote far-right ideologies through thrash metal, blending nationalist and anti-communist rhetoric with aggressive soundscapes, almost as if they were a chapter of TerrorGram’s The Hard Reset set to guttural vocals. A fourth musician, Artist D, has songs such as the roughly translated “My Tulpa Killed My Girlfriend”, which attempts to convince listeners that committing violent acts is tied to marvellous manifestations.
These artists use music as a reflection of their frustrations and ideologies, often masking extremist messages with humour and satire. The “do it yourself” (DIY) aesthetic, characterised by creating music independently — often from a bedroom or home studio — has become increasingly common as technological advancements and accessible AI tools make music production easier than ever. This method allows artists to produce and share their content with minimal resources, using AI tools to enhance production quality and reach. In the Brazilian context, these songs often tap into local grievances, such as political disillusionment, social marginalisation, and economic struggles, resonating with listeners who feel alienated by mainstream narratives. Through recommendation algorithms, this content can spread rapidly, amplifying radical ideologies and attracting those who share similar frustrations, thus making music a potent vehicle for the dissemination of extremist ideas.
Algorithmic Amplification and AI
Spotify and YouTube Music use sophisticated algorithms to personalise music recommendations based on user behaviour, such as searches, listened-to tracks, and saved songs. While these systems aim to enhance user experience, they can unintentionally amplify extremist content by recommending songs with themes like hate speech or violence to users who have shown an interest in related material. Once a user engages with such music or ideologies, the algorithm often pushes similar content, further immersing them in these harmful narratives. These algorithms prioritise aesthetic similarities and listening patterns, creating algorithmic bubbles that expose users to radical ideologies. The lack of effective real-time moderation further allows extremist artists to spread their content more easily.
In his analysis of irony poisoning, Max Fisher explains how individuals immersed in internet subcultures become desensitised to harmful content, leading them to internalise extremist ideas. This phenomenon, which Fisher describes in his 2022 book The Chaos Machine, highlights the progression from ironic engagement to sincere belief as users encounter increasingly offensive and algorithmically amplified material. Fisher warns that frequent exposure to controversial content, often found in online “rabbit holes” like YouTube or other popular platforms, lowers psychological defences and normalises extremist narratives. This concept is particularly relevant to the Brazilian music scene, where certain artists employ dark humour, satire, and irony to mask radical ideologies, as seen in genres such as shittrap or hatecore. These artists blur the line between entertainment and extremism, creating a space where harmful ideas are absorbed under the guise of humour, contributing to the spread and internalisation of radical discourse.
AI also plays a crucial role in the democratisation of music creation, allowing anyone, even without technical skills, to produce and share content. This has enabled extremist artists to use AI to generate technically sophisticated music that carries dangerous ideologies, facilitating the mass dissemination of such material. The combination of these factors, along with insufficient moderation, renders these algorithms vulnerable to manipulation by malign actors, who manage to disseminate their content alongside mainstream artists, exacerbating the normalisation of hate speech and accelerating online radicalisation.
Case Studies of Brazilian Artists
Three Brazilian artists exemplify how music can serve as a gateway to extremist discourse, potentially guiding listeners toward more radicalised content and high-profile figures. Despite their varying levels of reach, Artist E, Artist F, and Artist G each leverage their music to introduce listeners to toxic ideologies, reflecting narratives from far-right digital subcultures in Brazil. This progression illustrates how small artists can serve as an entry point, leading audiences toward artists with broader followings and more significant influence in the scene.
Artist E (204 subscribers on YouTube Music and 63 monthly listeners on Spotify) channels personal frustrations through the red pill ideology, a movement known for its misogynistic discourse and social resentment. His lyrics often centre on alienation, social rejection, and criticism of modern society, ultimately culminating in incitement to violence. In a song roughly translated to “The Red Pill”, he explores the core red pill narrative, describing an ‘awakening’ to hidden truths that reject social norms, especially regarding gender roles. This message aligns with the experiences of disillusioned young men, drawing them into an ideological framework that encourages them to view themselves as victims of societal manipulation.
Eu pensava que o problema era eu / I used to think the problem was me
Mas um dia descobri fui doutrinado / But one day I found out I was indoctrinated
A ser um cativo, a ser um escravo / To be a captive, to be a slave
Hoje eu tomarei a pílula vermelha / Today I will take the red pill
Artist F (75 subscribers on YouTube Music and 315 monthly listeners on Spotify), in his album Panegreiros, explores disturbing themes such as extreme violence, misogyny, racism, and dehumanisation, reflecting the ideologies of far-right digital subcultures in Brazil. His music normalises violence as a legitimate form of expression and conflict resolution. In his music, he targets individuals in virtual communities with racial and class-based slurs, justifying violence as a response to social failure. The focus on public humiliation and physical retaliation echoes the rhetoric commonly found on forums like 4chan and Brazilian chans.
Sexual violence is also a recurring theme in his lyrics. Artist F describes acts of mutilation and sexual violence against women, directly inciting murder with repetitive phrases such as “Die! Die!”. The dehumanisation of women, a central theme of the track, mirrors the frustration and hatred prevalent in the incel subculture, where sexual impotence is transformed into misogynistic violence.
The album reflects the threat that a ‘panegreiro’ — a term derived from ‘paneleiro’ and ‘negreiro’ — may pose by attracting unwanted attention from authorities to these forums, potentially exposing activities that occur in the depths of the deep web. While these efforts can expand their reach, they are seen with disdain by channers (a slang for users on chan sites), who value the anonymity and obscurity of their online activities. For channers, such visibility undermines their preference for operating in the shadows, making their communities more vulnerable to scrutiny and intervention by law enforcement.
‘Paneleiros’ use mainstream platforms for recruitment, guiding new members into closed and radical communities.
Artist G (1.07 million subscribers on YouTube Music, 206,826 followers, and 452,158 monthly listeners on Spotify) exemplifies how extremist narratives can gain traction when amplified by artists with significant audiences. Through shittrap, a genre blending absurdity and dark humour, Artist G satirises the toxic dynamics of online communities. However, his music often crosses the line from satire to the endorsement of harmful behaviours, normalising practices such as trolling, harassment, and doxing.
In one song, Artist G sarcastically criticises Discord moderators, exposing corruption, power abuse, and the manipulation of members—particularly women—in exchange for favours. The song highlights the superficiality and hypocrisy of these interactions, where abusive practices are normalised. A key lyric reveals this toxic dynamic: “Escreve meu nome na tua bunda e manda foto” (write my name on your butt and send a pic). Although framed as humour, this line reflects a culture of exploitation that thrives in digital spaces, blurring the boundary between irony and genuine endorsement of destructive behaviours. Another line, “Ela mandou Zap, eu puxei nome, IP e o CEP” (She sent her number, and I pulled up her name, IP, and address), exemplifies the invasive practice of doxing, where personal information is exposed to humiliate and control individuals. These lyrics encapsulate the essence of how online communities use humour and transgression as tools for domination, fostering a culture where harmful behaviours become routine. This aligns with the concept of irony poisoning, where irony and dark humour are used not just as coping mechanisms but as tools to desensitise individuals, fostering the internalisation of radical ideologies.
Though humour is central to Artist G‘s music, there is a fine line between satire and the endorsement of destructive behaviours, as the artist himself recounts experiences of contact with extremist fans he encounters.
The issue of censorship in music through moderation mechanisms, particularly regarding countercultural genres, creates a complex space that extreme individuals and movements can exploit. Artists in these scenes often frame themselves as resisting mainstream norms, portraying censorship as a violation of free expression — a narrative that resonates with their audiences and recasts them as victims rather than promoters of hate. Extremists use this sentiment, leveraging underground music scenes as a gateway to radicalisation.
Conclusion
The analysis of artists like Artist E (incelcore), and Artist F (hatecore), and Artist G (shittrap) demonstrates how music can play a significant role in spreading extremist ideologies on digital platforms in Brazil. Their songs channel themes of misogyny, violence, and provocation, aligning with narratives from extremist movements like the incel and red pill communities. Through genres such as incelcore and hatecore, these artists express frustrations and hostility towards societal norms, while shittrap uses irony and dark humour to blur the lines between satire and genuine extremist rhetoric. This “weaponization of humour” allows their content to be consumed as dark entertainment, subtly reinforcing harmful ideologies. These musical channels act as gateways, attracting listeners who may already be experiencing social frustrations and potentially leading them to more radicalised content.
Despite efforts by platforms like Spotify and YouTube to moderate content, their algorithms can inadvertently create echo chambers by recommending similar content based on user behaviour. This often makes extremist music more accessible, especially when it is masked under satire or coded language.
These moderation gaps are particularly problematic for content in non-hegemonic languages, such as Brazilian Portuguese, where filtering systems tend to be less effective. Many of these moderation tools are designed primarily with English in mind, overlooking the linguistic and cultural complexities of other languages. This allows extremist messages to bypass automated systems, spreading unchecked across platforms. It is crucial to invest in moderation resources tailored to these languages, recognising the need for a more comprehensive approach to address threats in local contexts, thereby preventing users from being exposed to radical content that could facilitate recruitment and radicalisation processes. Enhancing multilingual moderation algorithms is essential to ensure that AI can accurately capture the subtleties of Brazilian Portuguese and other regional languages. Furthermore, platforms like Spotify and YouTube should forge partnerships with Brazilian NGOs, combining efforts to identify and remove harmful content swiftly. Such collaborations would not only enhance moderation efficiency but also demonstrate a strengthened commitment to corporate social responsibility.
Extremist messages can spread unchecked, complicating efforts to reduce their influence. The disguised nature of such content blurs the line between humour and radicalisation, posing a danger to young, vulnerable audiences who may internalise harmful ideas without critical reflection.
Ricardo Cabral Penteado is a Ph.D. candidate in Computational Linguistics at the University of São Paulo (USP). He specialises in deep learning and natural language processing (NLP), focusing on the intersection of violent extremism and technology within the Brazilian and Latin American context. Ricardo is a 2024-2025 GNET Fellow.