Online impact of violent right-wing communities growing, says Europol

The threat from transnational extremist right-wing communities online leading to violent attacks is rising, Europe's policing agency warned Monday, after an operation flagged more than 800 examples of violent or terror content.

Two recent gun attacks, one in the United States and another in Slovakia, "illustrated a concerning proliferation of violent right-wing extremist and terrorist activities on a global scale," Europol said.

"The perpetrators of these attacks were part of transnational online communities and took inspiration from other violent right-wing extremists and terrorists," it added in a statement.

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Europol and police from 13 European Union countries and Britain last Thursday held a "referral action day" to pin extremist and violent right-wing content on the internet including livestream broadcasts, manifestos, and claims and celebrations of attacks.

Police then referred the content to online service providers and their responses to the referrals were tested, The Hague-based agency said in a statement.

"The activities resulted in the referral of 831 items to 34 affected platforms," Europol said, adding "the threat posed by violent extremism and terrorism is still on the rise."

Europol pointed to two attacks blamed on violent right-wing extremism and which could be linked to online content.

The first was the murder of 10 Black people by self-declared white supremacist Payton Gendron in Buffalo, New York in the United States in May this year.

The second happened when a "radicalised teenager", believed the son of a prominent member of a far-right party, shot dead two men outside a gay bar in Slovakia's capital Bratislava in October.

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These attacks have highlighted the pivotal role of online propaganda in their radicalisation process, Europol said.

"This shows how the abuse of the internet continues to be an important aspect of violent right-wing radicalisation and recruitment."

Another recent example of rising right-wing violence in Europe came after the arrest of 25 alleged coup plotters in Germany earlier this month, with prosecutors saying they were planning to overthrow the state and install their own government.

Anti-terror experts said the group was inspired by online conspiracy theories including the QAnon theory and were "strongly convinced" that Germany was run by a "deep state" that needed to be toppled.