EXTREMISMHate Sites: Using the Broader Abortion Argument to Spread Racism, Extremism

Racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists (RMVEs) are using the debate around women’s reproductive rights to promote racist and extremist agendas, finds a new study, which was released following news that millions of women in the US will lose the constitutional right to abortion.

U.S. white nationalists are heading on to a Neo-Nazi website, “Stormfront,” in order to recruit more people to their way of thinking. Whilst online they describe abortions by white women as “murder,” and look to “weaponize” the procedure. However, the extremists reason abortion by non-white women as “acceptable” or even “desirable” because, they argue, the procedure could solve threats to white dominance – including the “urgent need to limit third world populations.”

The findings, published in the Francis and Taylor journal Information, Communication & Society, come following a detailed computer-aided analysis of more than 30,000 posts, spanning over two decades on the site.

The study authors warn that their evidence highlights how white extremists “weaponize” abortion arguments to attract recruits, using the political debate as a gateway argument that invites them to dive deeper into white male supremacy ideology.

“Our study shows that science, medicine, and conspiracy theories meet on the dark corners of the internet,” says lead researcher Dr. Yotam Ophir at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York.

“The result is the creation and spread of dangerous racist and misogynistic ideas. These are often born in extremists’ platforms, but have spilled over into mainstream politics and discourse.”

Abortion rights are a fiercely contested issue in the United States. Last Friday, 24 June, the Supreme Court overturned its 50-year-old Roe v Wade decision, in a judgement that therefore entitles individual states to ban the procedure.