Apropos: Corona adds fuel to the fire of extremism

 

The corona virus has ravaged the world, and when societies are in crisis, global extremist movements come to life. Everything suggests that right-wing extremist and Islamist organizations will emerge stronger from the crisis.

 

Foto: Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Ritzau Scanpix.

 

EXTREMISM SPREADS LIKE WILDFIRE

Millions of people worldwide have lost their income due to the Covid-19 shutdowns. Global economic forecasts are bleak, and we are looking into a future of great financial instability, rising unemployment and uncertainty. Corona preparedness shifts focus from local prevention work; many local authorities do not have the same contact with young people during the crisis, and a number of the traditional defenses to prevent extremism have been put on standby. These are  depressing occurrences that extremist groups will capitalize on for new recruitment of young people, for radicalization and new attacks around the world. But what must we do to avoid a resurgence of global extremism in the wake of the corona crisis?

 

Support the weakest states through the crisis

Extremist groups are exploiting the crisis to rekindle hatred and old conflicts and mobilize new attacks in the world’s hotspots and weak states, where authorities are struggling to tackle   the pandemic. And when states or cities cannot handle the crisis, extremist groups take on the role as state and provide basic services to the people. The Taliban, Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, ISIS and Al-Shabaab have all done so to gain renewed popular support and political legitimacy. Therefore, the world community must fight the corona crisis in weak states to slow down the advancement of the extremist groups.

 

Control hate online

The extremists use the corona virus to amplify polarization and hatred locally. Social media can be considered to be the hate’s super spreader, and the virus has further accelerated this development.

Therefore, we must insist that the tech giants increase their focus on fighting extremist hatred on their platforms. Extremists use the crisis to paint a picture of a world in chaos with a global virus that underpins their doomsday prophecies. Islamist groups describe the virus as “God’s punishment against non-Muslims.” According to right-wing extremists, it is being spread by minority groups and is the ultimate proof of the imminent demise of the multicultural society.

In recent years, particularly right-wing extremist methods and mindsets have become increasingly normalized; hate speech, support for conspiracy theories like Q Anon and acceptance of violence have become more mainstream in the political debate and on social media. Although Twitter and Facebook have, somewhat hesitantly, begun to remove controversial content, they are still far from the target. We must have a final global showdown with the tech giants’ acceptance of extremist hatred, disinformation and propaganda on their platforms. It is necessary to quell the violent spread of extremist hatred that leads people into extremist groups or to “lone wolf” radicalization and attacks.

 

New global leadership

In few places is the explosion of hatred in the world clearer than in the United States. Just in a few years, the country has gone from being the world’s humanitarian and democratic watchdog to a global role model for extremist groups.

The Corona crisis has contributed to a historic inequality coming to the surface. In interplay with killings, racial unrest and a controversial president that is fanning the flames of hatred, a perfect tornado of extremism has been created. The world urgently needs renewed global leadership and unity to prevent extremism. Right now, despots are taking advantage of the absence of American and Western leadership in the world. They are securing geopolitical power, allowing conflicts and extremism to flourish, and strengthening their authoritarian regimes by restraining the rights of citizens.

A new chapter needs to be written in the global “fight against terrorism”. It must have a distinctive humanitarian and social vision and be firmly grounded in international law and human rights. And it must have a sturdy focus on creating strong and secure communities that promote quality of life and local actors’ resilience towards extremist groups.

 

Published: Magasinet 360° 2020 #3

 

Jeppe Albers,
Founder and Executive Director,
Nordic Safe Cities