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The Online Battlefield: Digital Warrior Tactics

As mainstream social media platforms prepare for the upcoming US presidential elections, many have banned politically extremist groups due to violations of guidelines and policies, specifically against hate speech, disinformation and coordinated inauthentic behavior. Determined to continue their spread across mainstream platforms, these groups have resorted to coordinating on “free speech” social platforms, considering them a safe space, where they can plan operations on the “real battleground” that is mainstream social media.

In this report, ActiveFence studies how politically extremist groups use these networks to recruit new members and distribute fake news as they organize and plan attacks on mainstream networks.

 

Portrait of Gideon Freud, author on the ActiveFence blog
Gideon Freud

Gideon is a Senior Intelligence Writer at ActiveFence. He graduated from Oxford University in 2012, where he studied social and cultural anthropology with a special focus on the growth of political extremism in Europe. He joined ActiveFence in January 2021, and is interested in researching the development of national laws focused on regulating online activities.