Hate Group - Internet Hate Groups

Internet Hate Groups

Traditionally, hate groups recruited members and spread extremist messages by word of mouth, or through the distribution of flyers and pamphlets. In contrast, the Internet allows members from all over the world to engage in real-time conversations. The Internet has been a boon for hate groups in terms of promotion, recruitment and expanding their base to include younger audiences. An Internet hate group does not have to be a part of a traditional faction such as the Ku Klux Klan.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC), in its 2009 iReport, identified more than 10,000 problematic hate and terrorist websites and other Internet postings. The report includes hate websites, social networks, blogs, newsgroups, YouTube and other video sites. The findings illustrate that as the Internet continues to grow, extremists find new ways to seek validation for their hateful agendas and to recruit members.

Facebook hate page/group creators choose their target, set up a site, and then recruit members Anyone can create a Facebook group and invite followers to post comments, add pictures and participate in discussion boards. A Facebook page is similar, except one must ‘like’ the page to become a member. Because of the ease of creating and joining such groups, many so-called hate groups exist only in cyberspace