Australia’s far right has enthusiastically returned to Twitter under the leadership of Elon Musk, using the platform to hijack and insert itself into online mainstream conversation.
Since buying the company last year, the billionaire owner of Tesla and SpaceX has overseen changes that have shifted Twitter to the right while using his position as one of the platform’s most followed users to amplify and answer the concerns of far-right users.
These acts have emboldened the most extreme and fringe users, including neo-Nazis, to flock back to the platform.
Once banished to alt-tech platforms like Telegram or forced to constantly set up new accounts that would be banned, Australian far-right groups are now able to stably operate accounts on Twitter.
Australia’s best-known neo-Nazi group, the National Socialist Network, has been able to maintain an account since November 2022 — created just days after Musk officially took over — where it openly promotes anti-Semitic and racist views. And despite having been found to have broken the platform’s rules against hateful conduct, Twitter has allowed it to continue to use its platform.
In many cases, Twitter is directly profiting off these accounts’ subscriptions to Twitter Blue, the platform’s $13-a-month service that amplifies an account’s posts to other users. This pay-for-play service has helped Australia’s far right to insert itself into online political discourse.
Joel Davis is an Australian white nationalist and anti-Semite who has avidly used Twitter since Musk’s takeover to hijack mainstream discussion. He’s used Twitter Blue to help drive the crusade against drag shows for children and, more recently, to campaign against the Voice to Parliament referendum.
When a reply to a tweet by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week received more likes than the original post, Davis celebrated its success on Telegram.
“Cheers for juicing it boys and I implore you to keep juicing the fuck out of it because the more savage the ratio the more of a statement it makes. Also it links to my thread on the Voice which is solid [mainstream conservative] bait,” he said.
Far-right researcher Dr Kaz Ross said Twitter’s newfound inhabitability has been key to the strategy to push politics to the right and wedge mainstream conservative parties.
“Nazis are using Twitter to insert themselves into Australian political debates. Telegram has a limited audience, but on Twitter, their stuff can be retweeted by people who don’t know who they are,” Ross told Crikey.
“Like with the Kellie-Jay Keen protest or with Pauline Hanson saying she isn’t anti-immigrant, they want to point out that conservative parties aren’t really their friends. Twitter lets them disrupt and push politics to the right.”
Although I own the product – a Tesla, I’m embarrassed by It’s association with Elon Musk.
Musk used his Twitter platform to announce that his pronoun is PROSECUTE FAUCI………and to warn that the woke are a threat to society.
His true mission is to stop the current working from home trend, which might mean that you don’t need a second car, an electric one of course.
Self help is his true mission and his daily pontifications are the smoke he’s blowing up your fundamental.
If only they would replace him with an adult.
Twitter, take me away from your leader! Even if all roads aren’t public, at least the town square should be. Otherwise, what kind of tin pot town is it? Twitter? No thanks. I’d rather learn birdsong.
Like many (perhaps all) here), I am becoming more concerned by the day at the rise of these extreme right-wing groups. In trying to work out the best way to combat the influence of these groups, I am wondering if banning them on social media might be the most effective way of doing this. To me, (and please tell me if you think you have a better idea because I feel that I still need to be exposed to more possible solutions), the best way to counter the influence of extremists of any hue is to reduce the imbalance between rich and poor that exists in this (or indeed any other) country. Any society that allows great gaps to develop between income and wealth among its citizens is asking for trouble. This is a lesson from history.
Easier said than done because it assumes there is a separation between right wing groups, politicians and media. Twitter now has under ‘For you’ a proverbial torrent of RWNJS, MPs, influencers and far right vs. little if anything centrist or neutral.
Twitter not only allows far right, anti-vaxxers etc. to be active on its platform, but in both the UK and Australia, there is clear symmetry on strategy i.e. real or imagined sociocultural issues being highlighted by right wing groups, astroturfing, influencers and especially right wing MPs, all with same objective.
Similar to the Steve Bannon strategy for the Trump campaign, in UK it’s to stop Starmer e.g. denigrating him and encouraging Corbyn support, or don’t vote to benefit the Tories. Similar with Albanese, with many usual suspects on Twitter blaming PM, Wong and even Dan Andrews for Assange to be languishing in prison (while the LNP did nothing previous decade), therefore Labor should not be in power…..
It’s made worse in Australia where much of our media is not fit for purpose i.e. informing the public on issues of the day.
Hi Drew, your point about treating banning someone from a social network as a panacea to intolerance is well taken. I think most advocates for cracking down on online hate speech would argue that such action isn’t in lieu of other actions (like, say, trying to reduce inequality) but in tandem. Social media moderation is just one tool in the toolbox; just because it hasn’t fixed the problem entirely doesn’t mean it’s not helping.
No need to ban anyyhing. Everyone with a brain should just ignore it and encourage everyone else to ignore it too. I’ll start.
Don’t go on twitter. Its for twits.
Stop writing articles about twitter, stop putting twitter quotes in articles and twitter will soon become the alt-right platform it is destined to be under Musk
Would Hitler have used Twitter? Please discuss.
Probably, but Martin Luther King would have, too.
Yeah – but most likely a fully nationalised version
Unlikely, all those verbs at the end of the sentence don’t suit a visual format.