Parler, the “censorship-free” social media platform extremists used to hype the Jan. 6 insurrection, is back after an almost one-year hiatus. Meanwhile, online trolls are targeting a video game company and calling themselves “Gamergate 2.0.” And lawsuits stemming from a 2022 extremist mass shooting could change the way courts look at social media’s role in mass killings.
It’s the week in extremism.
Plus:Our new USA TODAY report on social-media monitoring in the Air Force
About 3½ years ago, a then-new social media platform, Parler, had a moment. The site had become a go-to communication source for extremists who had been kicked off other platforms, often for posts that violated rules against hate speech. It played a role in the prelude to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. Then, last year, it was shut down.
Now, Parler is back. And its new owners are promising the site won’t become what it once was.
Right-wing internet trolls have been targeting the video game consulting company “Sweet Baby,” claiming falsely that it pushes diversity and inclusion principles into games, according to a new report from the progressive analysis group Media Matters for America. People involved in the attacks have branded themselves “Gamergate 2.0,” in reference to a similar harassment campaign against women in gaming that began in 2014.
A judge cleared the way this week for several lawsuits stemming from the 2022 white supremacist mass shooting at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in which 10 people were killed. The lawsuits target large social media companies for allowing hate and extremism on their platforms and for profiting from such posts, alleging they influenced the shooter in the case, Peyton Gendron.
Tech companies have previously managed to avoid legal responsibility for hosting extremist and hateful content or for platforming mass killers. Recently, however, plaintiffs have brought successful lawsuits against firearms manufacturers and prosecutors have successfully tried a mass shooter’s parents. The New York State lawsuits could open a new front in the fight to hold accountable companies and individuals who fail to recognize or stop mass shooters.
That was the sentence handed down this week to Robert Justus, a convicted former member of the extremist “Boogaloo” movement, for the 2020 drive-by shooting of a security guard in Oakland.
The shooting happened in the midst of civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd. Another adherent of the “Boogaloo Boys,” a meme-focused movement built on hatred of the federal government, was sentenced to 41 years in prison for the shooting in 2022.
Will Carless is a national correspondent covering extremism and emerging issues. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @willcarless.
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