Free Beacon – by Elizabeth Harrington
The Department of Justice is concentrating on “far-right” groups in a new study of social media usage aimed at combatting violent extremism.
The Justice Department’s National Institute of Justice (NIJ) awarded Michigan State University $585,719 for the study, which was praised by Eric Holder, the former attorney general, earlier this year.
“There is currently limited knowledge of the role of technology and computer mediated communications (CMCs), such as Facebook and Twitter, in the dissemination of messages that promote extremist agendas and radicalize individuals to violence,” according to the NIJ grant. “The proposed study will address this gap through a series of qualitative and quantitative analyses of posts from various forms of CMC used by members of both the far-right and Islamic extremist movements.”
The study draws more upon right-wing forums than upon the corners of the web inhabited by Islamist extremists.
“We will collect posts made in four active forums used by members of the far-right and three from the Islamic Extremist community, as well as posts made in Facebook, LiveJournal, Twitter, YouTube, and Pastebin accounts used by members of each movement,” the grant said.
“The findings will be used to document both the prevalence and variation in the ideological content of posts from members of each movement,” the grant continued. “In addition, we will assess the value of these messages in the social status of the individual posting the message and the function of radical messages in the larger on-line identity of participants in extremist communities generally.”
The project will also “identify the hidden networks of individuals who engage in extremist movements based on geographic location and ideological similarities.”
The results will be used for a public webinar, and for presentations for counterterrorism experts in the United States.
Holder highlighted the study in remarks this February at the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism, as an example of the new methods the Justice Department is using to combat terrorist threats.
Holder said the study will “help us develop more effective techniques and partnerships for counter-messaging.”
While the grant does not name the “far-right” groups that would be examined, other federal agencies have devoted their energy to the sovereign citizen movement.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a report on the movement, whose members believe that U.S. laws do not apply to them, just as the White House held its summit on violent extremism. The administration did not use the phrase “Islamist extremism” at the summit.
DHS stirred controversy in 2009 when it issued a report on right-wing extremism, which included veterans returning from combat as a potential terrorist threat.
The Justice Department and Michigan State University did not return requests for comment by press time.
http://freebeacon.com/issues/justice-department-studying-far-right-social-media-use/
Where are the grants and studies for the far left radicals? They are the ones instigating the violence.
HEY BILL. IM NOT ” FAR LEFT” OR “FAR RIGHT” . HOW DO YOU PROPOSE THAT WE REINSTITUTE THE BILL OF RIGHTS? BY BEGGING? F@$K YOU!
What is a “far-right” person or group?
Rational Wiki describes a “far-right” person/group as:
• Anti-immigration; sometimes combined with either anti-Semitism or Islamophobia; in many cases outright racism, such as white supremacy and/or ethnic-related conspiracy theories such as Holocaust denial, Eurabia and ideas about “white extinction”
• Anti-socialism and extreme anti-communism (as in endorsing conspiracy theories surronding the subject), though in some cases supporting a limited welfare state and occasionally even “state capitalism” (except in the United States where any sort of welfare is seen as communism). On the other hand in the states a number of paleoconservatives and laissez-faire types are more hostile to a welfare state and may desire to see the social safety net gutted entirely.
•Nationalism, possibly including historical revisionism
•Pro-life and promoting childbirth (see also white extinction scenario)
• Supporting family values and traditional gender roles, and is virtually always homophobic[1]
• Tough stance on crime, probably in support of capital punishment
•Environmentalism might be prevalent,[citation needed] as well as anti-environmental sentiment (climate change denial etc)
• Questioning universal civil rights and human rights.
• Reactionary beliefs, meaning beliefs that things were better some time ago (often before some major legislative change, such as civil rights laws).
According to this loose interpretation anyone who believes, writes or comments about conspiracy theories [anti-govt. beliefs] is a target.
– If you write or comment that there are too many people on Welfare, you’re a target.
– If you believe in family values and write about it you’re a target!
– If you question universal civil rights or human rights, you’re a target!
– If you write, comment or believe we had more civil rights prior to 2001, you’re a target!
What’s that you say, This is absurd! DHS and the Patriot Act [Freedom Act] have destroyed our civil rights and the NSA, DEA, DHS etc., should stop spying on everyone. You right wing extremist, how dare you! Now police, universities and Fusion Centers will spy on your every word!
“… the study, which was praised by Eric Holder, the former attorney general, earlier this year.”
That’s all we need to know.