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Abstract

Drawing from ethnographic and documentary data, this article examines the character of the social spaces that white power movement (WPM) activists create on the Internet and the linkages to their real world activism. Specifically, we explain how white power activists use cyberspace as a free space to create and sustain movement culture and coordinate collective action. The WPM's cyberpresence intersects with and enhances their real world activities by offering multiple opportunities for access and coordination. Virtual contact with the WPM community offers members social support, companionship, and a sense of belonging to a community of Aryan believers. We argue that real and virtual spaces are not completely separate spheres but rather closely inter-twined. Consequently, virtual spaces provide an opportunity to parallel and extend the type of interaction present in real world free spaces that are so critical to nurturing and sustaining white power movement culture. Cyberspace is being used to connect all sorts of people, yet the character of those connections is unclear. Some observers argue that cyberspace is a new place of assembly where real world social communities can be established, sustained, or renewed as virtual communities. In The Virtual Community (1993), Howard Rheingold argues the Intemet introduced a new form of community that can help bring people together on-line around shared values and interests, and create ties of support that extend their real world collective interaction. Sherry Turkle (1995:267), a pioneer in studies of identity and interaction on the Intemet, claims that the virtual realm offers "a dramatic Please direct correspondence to Pete Simi,. We want to thank editors Dobratz and Waldner and the anonymous JPMS reviewers for their helpful suggestions on earlier drafts of this article.
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... While numerous articles mention 'online community' or 'virtual community' in passing, there are only a handful of studies truly unpacking the concept or exploring its significance in the field. There are also different terminologies used in publications attempting to capture the phenomenon: online ecology (Conway et al., 2021), radical milieu (Conway, 2012), collective identity (Futrell & Simi, 2004), as well as cyberculture (Simi & Futrell, 2006). ...
... Interestingly, they also point to how the Internet and social media have impacted counter-terrorism operations: law enforcement used to use individuals to gain insights about the network, but with social media, they now use networks to gain insight into individuals (Benigni et al., 2017, p. 3). Simi and Futrell (2006) were among the first to notice that a lot of the research literature on virtual communities (Rheingold, 1993;Turkle, 2005) is increasingly relevant to understanding how extremist groups also function online. They make use of Gamson's (1996) notion of 'free space' to argue that the online space provides extremist movements with a safe space where they can 'be themselves without pressure or self-consciousness about what members of the more powerful group may think or how they will react' (Gamson quoted in Simi & Futrell, 2006, p. 118). ...
... While numerous articles mention 'online community' or 'virtual community' in passing, there are only a handful of studies truly unpacking the concept or exploring its significance in the field. There are also different terminologies used in publications attempting to capture the phenomenon: online ecology (Conway et al., 2021), radical milieu (Conway, 2012), collective identity (Futrell & Simi, 2004), as well as cyberculture (Simi & Futrell, 2006). ...
... Interestingly, they also point to how the Internet and social media have impacted counter-terrorism operations: law enforcement used to use individuals to gain insights about the network, but with social media, they now use networks to gain insight into individuals (Benigni et al., 2017, p. 3). Simi and Futrell (2006) were among the first to notice that a lot of the research literature on virtual communities (Rheingold, 1993;Turkle, 2005) is increasingly relevant to understanding how extremist groups also function online. They make use of Gamson's (1996) notion of 'free space' to argue that the online space provides extremist movements with a safe space where they can 'be themselves without pressure or self-consciousness about what members of the more powerful group may think or how they will react' (Gamson quoted in Simi & Futrell, 2006, p. 118). ...
... The alt-right, however, is not just a continuation of traditional far-right groups, but something that is uniquely different (Daniels, 2018;Reid & Valasik, 2020b). While traditional far-right groups have been operating on the Internet for decades, they have primarily been relegated to cloistered online communities and message boards (e.g., Stormfront, The Daily Stormer, Iron March, etc.) and had minimal appeal outside of these virtual Aryan Free Spaces (see Reid & Valasik, 2020b;Simi & Futrell, 2006). The alt-right have capitalized on the proliferation of social media platforms (i.e., Twitter, Facebook, Gab, Parler) and imageboards (i.e., 4chan, 8kun, Reddit) to directly connect with a large number of users, who were not searching for racist material, greatly increasing their ability to gain recruits (Hawley, 2021;Paxton, 2018;Reid & Valasik, 2020b). ...
... Far-right groups, and the white power movement more broadly, were early adopters of digital technologies and the Internet to communicate with other and create virtual Aryan free spaces where adherents can post to forums, share content (videos, photos, documents, etc.), play racist video games, listen to white power music, and even indoctrinate children (Belew, 2018;Daniels, 2009;Simi & Futrell, 2006. Traditionally, far-right groups were relegated to niche online communities, such as The Daily Stormer, Stormfront, or Iron March, restricting their rhetoric and worldview to Alt-Tech echo chambers (see Daniels, 2018;Donovan et al., 2022;Perry & Scrivens, 2019;Reid & Valasik, 2020b;Scrivens, 2021;Sunderland, 2022;Winter 2019). ...
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... Most information online today is uncensored and usually not vetted by editors or publishers. This digital revolution has notably influenced academic research, with scholars investigating how people engage in online platforms and the consequences of online behaviors, among other issues (Finkelstein et al. 2020, O'Halloran et al. 2019, Simi & Futrell 2006. Open-source research strategies have become increasingly popular in criminology and criminal justice. ...
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This review focuses on the use of open-source data in criminology and criminal justice research, highlighting the field's advancements through these data, optimal practices for constructing open-source databases, and key methodological hurdles to confront. As the amount and types of available public information have grown, scholars have capitalized on this access by constructing open-source databases. Our review found extraordinary growth in this research area and that these flexible methods have been used to study a range of important topics, including issues that have been historically challenging to research. These methods have been most impactful in the study of rare events, such as school shootings, terrorism, and mass shootings. Some studies have become core works that significantly impacted criminology and other scientific disciplines, and the limits of the use of sources have yet to be determined. Our review of this literature found variations in the methodological approach to constructing such databases. Many studies did not evaluate the credibility of the open-source information they relied upon and often were not transparent in describing their research process. We identify the different processual elements of systematically developing and using such data. We highlight the strengths and weaknesses of these methods, set forth best practices, and discuss how to improve methodological rigor and oversight in future research.
... In Simi and Futrell's view, the most important free spaces are those that enable face-to-face interactions. While they acknowledged that virtual free spaces also exist in the form of WPM Web sites, discussion boards, and chat rooms, they asserted that the relationships that activists form online are relatively thin and that digitally mediated interactions generate only weak solidarity (Simi and Futrell, 2006). This argument follows a broader tendency amongst social movements researchers to position cyberspace interactions as ancillary and of secondary importance to those that occur in face-to-face settings (Eltantawy and Wiest, 2011;Hwang and Kim, 2015;Tufekci and Wilson, 2012). ...
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Involuntary celibates, or incels, are part of a misogynistic, extremist subculture that has been linked to acts of mass violence. Unlike other alt-right communities, the incel subculture exists entirely online, and participants rarely, if ever, interact in face-to-face settings. Using an original dataset of 76 discussion threads drawn from two self-identified incel Web sites, this paper investigates how participants on incel discussion boards engage in bonding activities that foster a sense of commitment to the online incel community. We build on sociological understandings of narrative and storytelling to identify and describe three interactive storytelling practices that are facilitated by the affordances of these digital spaces: repetition, co-creation, and elaboration. These practices enable incel participants to share similar experiences, apply elements of the incel ideology to interpret off-line events, and elaborate boundaries between incels and those that they perceive as “normies”. Our study reveals how online bonding activities generate robust collective identities in the incel subculture. It also highlights crucial differences between online and face-to-face storytelling practices in alt-right communities.
... Social media platforms have become valuable tools for far-right movements and activists, providing efficient means of mobilizing (Mundt, Ross & Burnett, 2018), spreading their hateful messages (Castaño-Pulgarín et al., 2021;Farkas, Schou & Neumayer, 2017;Ganesh, 2020), recruiting members (Ekman, 2018), creating networks and coalitions (Caiani, 2018;Caiani, Della Porta & Wagemann, 2012;Veilleux-Lepage & Archambault, 2019), and organizing street protests (Liang & Cross, 2020;Miller & Graves, 2020). However, online spaces not only serve as tools for these movements but have also been shown to transform the very nature of the movements -functioning as a form of sanctuary where members can develop a sense of collective identity and construct counter-narratives to mainstream ideas Jasser et al., 2021;Simi & Futrell, 2006. Social media has, in this sense, become inextricably intertwined with the process of radicalization. ...
Chapter
The widespread integration of digital technologies including the internet, Internet of Things (IoT), and social media platforms (SMPs) has ushered in an era of unparalleled connectivity and information dissemination. While these advancements have transformed various aspects of modern life, they have simultaneously given rise to evolving cyber threats that now extend to the realm of terrorism and extremism. As a result, these technological developments have inadvertently fostered an environment conducive to the spread, recruitment, and orchestration of terrorist activities. This convergence of technology and violent ideologies presents novel challenges and opportunities for security experts and broader society alike. Understanding the complex interplay between technology, terrorism and extremism is therefore crucial in formulating effective countermeasures and policies. To this end, this chapter aims to investigate the multidimensional impact of the internet, IoT, and SMPs on terrorism and extremism, illuminating their role in driving cyber threats. By analysing their dynamic relationship and examining real-world instances, the chapter underscores the necessity for comprehensive strategies to mitigate the negative repercussions. Through its comprehensive analysis, the chapter contributes to shaping a more secure global landscape.