A new report on Canadian involvement in right-wing extremism online should serve as a “wake-up call” about the widespread nature of the movement, says a leading expert on the phenomenon. The research identified 6,600 online channels where Canadians were involved in spreading radical views.
A report released Friday on Canadian involvement in right-wing extremism online should serve as a “wake-up call” about the widespread nature of the movement and highlights a growing shift toward the use of less regulated platforms, says an expert on the phenomenon.
The research, led by the U.K.-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) think-tank, identified more than 6,600 online channels — pages, accounts or groups — where Canadians were involved in spreading white supremacist, mysogynistic or other radical views.
On some forums, Canadians were found to be “highly active,” even more, on average, than users in the U.S. and Britain.
On one particular message board called “politically incorrect” on the fringe site 4Chan, researchers found Canadian users created 1,636,558 posts, representing 5.71 per cent of posts from all countries.
The study suggests when the numbers were averaged out using each country’s “estimated internet-using population,” Canada was shown to be producing more content than anywhere else.
Barbara Perry, director of Ontario Tech University’s Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism, called the Canadian tally “really disconcerting.”
“For us to be up there with the heavy hitters … it’s a wake-up call,” she said.
The authors of the 47-page study, which was partly funded by Public Safety Canada, say it’s one of the most comprehensive analyses of its kind. And while the paper offers only a snapshot captured before 2020, observers of far-right extremism suspect this year will only prove worse.
“Globally, in recent years, we have seen a surge in activity by right-wing extremists, in terms of violent mobilization, protests, but also the use of disinformation and co-ordinated hate online,” said Jacob Davey, ISD senior research manager and a study co-author. “Unfortunately, Canada hasn’t escaped that trend.”
The researchers describe right-wing extremism as being “characterized by a racially, ethnically and sexually defined nationalism … often framed in terms of white power,” centred on perceived threats by minority groups.
Not all the online chatter is illegal — much of it is covered by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms — but the authors still consider it “problematic.”
Real-world violence
The broad right-wing extremist movement has been tied to such deadly rampages as the 2017 Quebec City mosque shooting and the Toronto van attack in 2018. The driver later told a detective he was part of the so-called “incels,” a fringe subculture catering to men who consid