Understanding Far-Right Radicalism Online

The world of cyberpolitics can often seem obscure to the outsider, and the rise of far-right radicalism online can seem like an unknowable factor. These books help demystify the nebulous movement and the big tech algorithms that enable it; charting its rise through the 2014 harassment campaign against women & marginalised folk known as gamergate, further into influence over Trump’s presidency and the current Qanon conspiracy theory. A couple of my stand-outs follow:

• Talia Lavin’s recent Culture Warlords is an incredibly brave and thorough deep-dive into this murky world, featuring first-hand undercover reporting from hidden online networks of neo-nazis and giving an idea of their current condition.
• Wendling’s Alt-Right gives a broader historical overview, describing in detail the events that birthed the global movement.