Too far out: countering extremists in an election year

With a critical federal election looming, it is vital to be aware of the threat being posed to democracy by the far right.  

Disinformation is rife, and we’ll encounter extreme theories, beliefs, candidates, and policies in the next couple of months. 

Previously, nutty ideas and conspiracy theories were fringe outliers: novel, quirky, sometimes almost charming. It’s hard to be too critical of Doomsday Preppers, for example, given world events. But in the internet age, the far right is amplifying nonsense to actively target democracy. 

Van Badham, author of QAnon And On: A Short and Shocking History of Internet Conspiracy Cults, says she understands why democratic citizens may struggle to take seriously “alien lizard aficionados, drink-your-own-wee health enthusiasts and those people who believe democrats eat children’s faces”.  

“But the relevant historical lesson is that the threat to democracy doesn’t come from the proportion of the people these groups can claim to represent, she wrote for The Guardian.  

“It’s about the size of the damage they are willing to do.” 

How unions can deal with disinformation leading up to the election 

Badham feels the election will be decided by who best activates “low information voters who respond to sound bites and to peer networks”. 

“It's about knowing where those messages (disinformation) are coming from and having a counterpoint to them,” Badham says. 

“We need to get into those spaces and communities where we know we have members and counteract and neutralise that kind of disinformation.” 

This is very important as Facebook has become the dominant news source for many people, and it is almost entirely unregulated.  

Online hints for unionists

• Don’t shame people online, especially on Facebook. It aligns them with hostile communities and usually hardens their position. Engage one on one in private. 

• If you come across fake news online, screenshot it and call it out as fake. Don’t unwittingly amplify it. 

• Offer to answer questions and allay concerns. Say you will research whether the claim in question is true. 

• Put out one page hazard alerts about disinformation e.g.: FAKE NEWS and pin them to union noticeboards and union social media pages. 

• Make unambiguous statements about the need to place the conservatives last on election ballots. 

Van Badham’s most important edict was not on her list. 

“Most of all, be kind.” 

She says unscrupulous figures data-mining social media websites are the reason so many people have lost their trust in moral leadership.  

“That’s what has driven them towards the good-versus-evil simple idylls of conspiracy thinking.” 

Middle-class madness 

Consider some of the main attributes of “freedom” protesters: 

• Anti-semitism 

• Islamophobia 

• Homophobia 

• Transphobia 

• Sexism and misogyny 

• Extreme nationalism 

• Xenophobia 

• Anti-intellectualism 

• Anti-humanisism 

• Anti-globalism 

The western far-right, previously populated by nationalist labourers with little education, often workers dispossessed by outsourcing, is now the preserve of the well-educated middle-class, including small business owners. And they have money to burn on propaganda and radicalising tools. 

“What was learned from last year’s United States Capitol attack of 6 January and Melbourne’s violent anti-lockdown protests was that people don’t have to be able to comprehend the politics of the movement they’re in to be weaponised by them. 

“William Saletan recently made the frightening point that those Americans who have become the greatest threat to their republic are those who’ve been convinced by propaganda lies that they’re saving it.” 

Badham says Canada’s “trucker protest” has been sustained by American money “pouring into it by the millions”. And Melbourne’s protests were part of “worldwide action devised and organised by extremists from Germany”.  

The same behaviours, language, icons, slogans, and direct organising tactics are common to protests across the world. And the targets are usually democratic government itself. 

“The street-level participants of these protests don’t have to be slick, admirable, or coherent to be useful to this movement – just credulous, unquestioning, and willing to be mobilised. Where the protest presence grows, so do arson attacks and warnings of escalating violence.” 

Badham says we’re in the era of Brownshirts Without Borders and must face the fact that democracy in the west is “under siege”. 

Why do people turn (far) right? 

Badham has been running seminars for unionists to help them understand the threats they, and democracy face.  

In those sessions, she explains that COVID and its isolation have exacerbated people’s fear and insecurity, making the disaffected vulnerable to demagogy. They search online looking for a worldview that validates their confusion. Extremist online communities provide polarising disinformation, simplistic political binaries. This can bring a sense of empowerment and the galvanising camaraderie of a community. 

Identity, not economic hardship, or class struggle is the key issue for many of these people. Many feel their cultural authority and privilege is under threat due to immigration and globalisation.  

Others have experienced an ‘interruption to status’ due to divorce or separation, custody battles, or bankruptcy. There’s even showbiz stars whose profiles have waned – the ageing drummer from a band that no longer tours, ex-soapie stars. 

Some of the extremists are described as “fail sons”, the offspring of wealthy families who have not succeeded themselves. They have the time and resources to embark on a “political adventure”. 

Others are wellness advocates, often previously aligned with the left on progressive social issues, who are wilfully ignoring swastikas and violence at anti-vaccine rallies, motivated not by class but a notion of libertarian individualism.  

Once adherents stop engaging with mainstream media, they are sealed in a fake, unregulated media environment. 

This cynical opportunism is a perversion of solidarity – mobilising people who share a higher common purpose. But the people who attended protests in Canberra are not ideologically explicit or coherent; they are “actors in a script pre-written for them by fascists”. In Washington, some protesters believed they were righteous heroes in a story of noble resistance, but they are players in a highly organised global tactical action plan orchestrated by billionaires like Steve Bannon.  

We know that because there are groups tracking the data and finding central coordination.  

This might all seem a bit daunting.  

But Van Badham reminds us, “while this is an organised and well-resourced movement, it’s important to remember the numbers are low”. 

The internet amplifies the reach of the most outrageous elements of society more efficiently than the most cynical tabloid. A small number can have a loud voice. 

But it’s not a coherent movement, it is built on fear, and resisting it takes care as well as strength. 

So, what else can unionists do? 

“Unions are ideally placed to counteract the isolation through providing cultural, social spaces for those who are disconnected, for the fearful to feel safe and engaged with others…” 

We must keep communicating the core work unions do on making the economy fairer, improving conditions for workers and helping grant Australians control over their working life. Unions must remain an authentic source of economic information and offer a shared identity, a source of community. Workers must know unions have their back and back their jobs.  

Unions understand the power of personal and peer relationships. It is this we must activate to combat extremism.  

Collectively, this builds the brand of unions as a place of integrity and trust.  

“We in the union movement have a better story and are a more trusted brand. There is no solidarity with those behind the cults.”