An analysis of social media content shared  by right-wing extremist groups in the United  States, the Great Britain and Australia

Masalha Oday; Baş Özen

doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.26650/CONNECTIST2023-1055875

Research Article

DOI :10.26650/CONNECTIST2023-1055875 IUP :10.26650/CONNECTIST2023-1055875 Full Text (PDF)

An analysis of social media content shared by right-wing extremist groups in the United States, the Great Britain and Australia

The extreme right movements have increasingly appeared on social media, especially on Twitter and Facebook, coinciding with the 2019 New Zealand attack, the 2019 El Paso incident, and Britain’s exit from the European Union in 2020. This study examines the content and the form of extreme right-wing activities on Facebook and Twitter to promote their ideologies. A qualitative content analysis was conducted on posts shared by extreme-right groups on public Facebook and Twitter accounts in Great Britain, the United States and Australia. The sample spans from March 15, 2019 to February 5, 2020. The posts were coded according to a coding instrument developed based on the existing literature spreading extremist ideologies on social media. The coding instrument consisted of categories and subcategories such as ‘the protection of western values’, ‘anti-LGBT activism’, ‘anti-feminism’, ‘anti-Islam’, ‘anti-immigrant sentiments’, ‘fostering the white race’, and ‘anti-elitist populism’. Findings suggest that the most prevalent extremist ideologies on Facebook and Twitter posts were ‘anti-elitist populism’ and ‘the protection of western values’. Also, extremist groups heavily shared posts that combined texts and images to spread their ideologies on social media.

Keywords: Twitter, Facebook, Right Extremist Groups, Content Analysis

DOI :10.26650/CONNECTIST2023-1055875 IUP :10.26650/CONNECTIST2023-1055875 Full Text (PDF)

ABD, Büyük Britanya ve Avustralya’daki aşırı sağcı grupların sosyal medya paylaşımlarının içerik analizi

Oday Masalha, Özen Baş

Aşırı sağ hareketler, özellikle Facebook ve Twitter olmak üzere sosyal medya platformlarında, aktif bir şekilde varlık göstermeye başlamıştır. Bu varlık 2019 Yeni Zelanda saldırısı, 2019 El Paso olayı ve İngiltere’nin 2020’de Avrupa Birliği’nden çıkması gibi olaylarla aynı zamana denk düşer. Bu araştırma, aşırı sağ grupların ideolojilerini yaymak için Facebook ve Twitter platformlarındaki paylaşımlarını içerik ve biçim yönlerinden incelemektedir. ABD, Avustralya ve İngiltere’deki aşırı sağ grupların 15 Mart 2019-5 Şubat 2020 tarihleri arasında Facebook ve Twitter’da kamuya açık gruplarda ve hesaplarda yaptıkları paylaşımlar nitel bir içerik analizine tabi tutulmuştur. Kodlama cetveli, aşırı sağ grupların sosyal medya kullanımları üzerine yapılmış akademik çalışmaları temel alınarak oluşturulmuştur ve ana ideoloji kategorileri ile bunların alt kategorileri belirlenmiştir. Facebook ve Twitter’da aşırı sağ grupların yaptığı paylaşımlarda en yaygın aşırılıkçı ideolojilerin ‘anti-elitist popülizm’ ve ‘Batı değerlerinin korunması’ olduğu saptanmıştır. Ayrıca, bu grupların ideolojilerini geniş kitlelere yaymak amacıyla sosyal medyada görseller ve metinlerin birlikte bulunduğu paylaşımlar yaptıkları ortaya konulmuştur.

Keywords: Facebook, Twitter, Aşırı Sağcı Gruplar, İdeoloji, İçerik Analizi

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APA

Masalha, O., & Baş, Ö. (2023). An analysis of social media content shared by right-wing extremist groups in the United States, the Great Britain and Australia. Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, 0(64), 155-182. https://doi.org/10.26650/CONNECTIST2023-1055875

AMA

Masalha O, Baş Ö. An analysis of social media content shared by right-wing extremist groups in the United States, the Great Britain and Australia. Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences. 2023;0(64):155-182. https://doi.org/10.26650/CONNECTIST2023-1055875

ABNT

Masalha, O.; Baş, Ö. An analysis of social media content shared by right-wing extremist groups in the United States, the Great Britain and Australia. Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, [Publisher Location], v. 0, n. 64, p. 155-182, 2023.

Chicago: Author-Date Style

Masalha, Oday, and Özen Baş. 2023. “An analysis of social media content shared by right-wing extremist groups in the United States, the Great Britain and Australia.” Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences 0, no. 64: 155-182. https://doi.org/10.26650/CONNECTIST2023-1055875

Chicago: Humanities Style

Masalha, Oday, and Özen Baş. “An analysis of social media content shared by right-wing extremist groups in the United States, the Great Britain and Australia.” Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences 0, no. 64 (Dec. 2024): 155-182. https://doi.org/10.26650/CONNECTIST2023-1055875

Harvard: Australian Style

Masalha, O & Baş, Ö 2023, 'An analysis of social media content shared by right-wing extremist groups in the United States, the Great Britain and Australia', Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, vol. 0, no. 64, pp. 155-182, viewed 26 Dec. 2024, https://doi.org/10.26650/CONNECTIST2023-1055875

Harvard: Author-Date Style

Masalha, O. and Baş, Ö. (2023) ‘An analysis of social media content shared by right-wing extremist groups in the United States, the Great Britain and Australia’, Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, 0(64), pp. 155-182. https://doi.org/10.26650/CONNECTIST2023-1055875 (26 Dec. 2024).

MLA

Masalha, Oday, and Özen Baş. “An analysis of social media content shared by right-wing extremist groups in the United States, the Great Britain and Australia.” Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences, vol. 0, no. 64, 2023, pp. 155-182. [Database Container], https://doi.org/10.26650/CONNECTIST2023-1055875

Vancouver

Masalha O, Baş Ö. An analysis of social media content shared by right-wing extremist groups in the United States, the Great Britain and Australia. Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences [Internet]. 26 Dec. 2024 [cited 26 Dec. 2024];0(64):155-182. Available from: https://doi.org/10.26650/CONNECTIST2023-1055875 doi: 10.26650/CONNECTIST2023-1055875

ISNAD

Masalha, Oday - Baş, Özen. “An analysis of social media content shared by right-wing extremist groups in the United States, the Great Britain and Australia”. Connectist: Istanbul University Journal of Communication Sciences 0/64 (Dec. 2024): 155-182. https://doi.org/10.26650/CONNECTIST2023-1055875

Issue 642023, P. 155-182

TIMELINE

Submitted	12.01.2022
Accepted	13.02.2023
Published Online	30.03.2023

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