Uncovering the Far-Right Online Ecosystem: An Analytical Framework and Research Agenda

Recent years have seen a substantial increase in far-right inspired attacks. In this context, the present article offers an analytical framework for the study of right-wing extremists' multifaceted and fast-growing activity on the Internet. Specifically, we conceptualize the far-right online presence as a dynamic ecosystem, teasing out four major components that correspond to the different levels of analysis available to future research. We illustrate the benefits of this framework with key illustrative examples from the English-, French-, and German- speaking far-right, revealing the worrying size and breadth - but also heterogeneity - of today's far-right online ecosystem.

Automated summary

This article provides an analytical framework for studying the multifaceted and fast-growing activity of right-wing extremists on the Internet. It conceptualizes the online presence of the far-right as a dynamic ecosystem and highlights the size, breadth, and heterogeneity of today's far-right online ecosystem through key examples.