“Normie-to-Fascist Pipeline” Analysis Shows How Red-Pilling Turns Ordinary Trolls Into Violent Wackos
The team of cyber-warfare researchers over at Bellingcat have unpacked what is being called the “Normie-to-fascist pipeline”
“The great meme war” is a reference to time this user spent on 4chan and possibly 8chan, creating far-right memes in order to red-pill other people during the election. The whole exchange paints a picture of a man who was initially ensnared by candidate Trump’s rhetoric and then driven towards far-right media and, eventually, extremist communities on 4chan. There his commitment to fascist ideology crystalized.
The more you drill down into this, the more often the nym “Sargon of Akkad” starts coming up:
We see a steady spiral, from arguments in comment sections to far-right YouTube personalities to “the_donald” subreddit to 4chan’s /pol/ board and eventually to fascist Discord servers. This user singles out Sargon of Akkad (British Youtuber Carl Benjamin) for special praise and considers him a major influence. One of Sargon’s most popular video series’ is, “Why Do Men Hate #Feminism?” (Episode #1 is titled “Feminists Hate Women.”)
In later posts barD claims the “gradual red-pilling” of Sargon’s videos stopped him from being a feminist. He also praises Sargon as an “easier step” away from liberal views than outright Nazism. Once he’d taken that step and gotten used to Sargon’s rhetoric, it was easier for him to get used to the more extreme atmosphere of /pol/.
It’s not uncommon for white supremacist, fascist and anti-Semitic beliefs to arise initially as the result of humor.
(snip) Ironic memes gave this individual a chance to get used to the temperature before diving in.
Longtime commenters hereabouts are probably getting a strong case of deja vu right about now. We’ve seen this shit happening, going back to when our host Charles was calling attention to the toxic stew over at GamerGate.
This piece really shows the power of just listening to what these goons say, and then tracing back where these ideas come from. We’re seeing in the shootings in New Zealand and the attempted pipe-bombing of Trump’s enemies, how these toxic ideologies are causing real death & destruction.
One consistent theme is the hyper-masculinity and aggressive bragging that has - again - come out of the online gaming community.
…and then there’s race.
Oh yeah. Frightened little white boys in their mom’s basements are all up into hating on black folks because, well, inadequacies (see above).
And here come some very UNsurprising data points:
Fascists who become red-pilled through YouTube often start with comparatively less extreme right-wing personalities, like Ben Shapiro or Milo Yiannopolous.
One user explained that he was a “moderate republican” before “Steven Crowder, Paul Joseph Watson, Milo Yiannopolos, Black Pidgeon Speaks,” and other far-right YouTubers slowly red-pilled him. Over time he “moved further and further right until [he] could no longer stand them. That’s why [he likes] those groups even still, because if we just had the Fascists, we’d never convert anyone.”
