the new codes of the extreme right on the Internet – L’Express

In the far-right counterculture on the Internet, the world map thus refers to a very controversial planisphere, published in 2006 on Wikipedia, supposed to classify the countries of the world according to their intelligence quotient index (IQ). Presenting multiple biases, this map notably represents African countries as having the lowest IQ rate – a racist reference that ultra-right Internet users have shared on their networks since 2018. The glass of milk, for its part, is used by white supremacists as a nod to a racist theory according to which people of European origin are superior to others because they are more lactose tolerant. Identified as a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) since 2019, the “OK” hand sign, where the thumb and index finger meet, is also interpreted by some as a symbol of white supremacism, in reference to the letters “WP” [white power, pouvoir blanc] that we can guess there. The barber’s sign, which resembles a pole, has been taken up since 2019 by French far-right users to “celebrate” the deaths of victims crushed against a barrier, a pole or a door following shopping -pursuits with the police, as told Numerama.

In the majority of cases, these emojis are mixed with memes – photos or drawings diverted in a parodic manner, whose goal is always the same: to convey, through mockery or sarcasm, racist, anti-Semitic or homophobic. “These jokes, these codes and this common vocabulary, which are not always understood by everyone, make it possible to strengthen relationships, to give the illusion of being smarter than others and to create a real community bond” , estimates Tristan Mendès France, lecturer at Paris-Cité University and specialist in digital cultures. In the multitude of comments published in recent months on social networks following the murder of young Thomas in Crépol, the death of Nahel, or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, accounts displaying the “map” or “post” emojis and publications of memes with racist overtones are not rare. “The glass of milk emoji, the drawings that highlight very specific ideas, it’s a wink to recognize yourself, to know immediately who you are dealing with on the Internet. And, little by little, these Common references are used as a vector of ultra-right propaganda. They can even become a weapon if they are used massively against a specific target,” adds Tristan Mendès France.

Among these “figures” who have become iconic for the identity community on the Internet, we find the essential Pepe the Frog, a frog initially created in American comics Boy’s Club and diverted in the United States by the neo-Nazi community and white nationalists on forums like 4chan or Reddit, then used as a symbol of support for Donald Trump during his campaign. In France, the frog was taken up on social networks as a symbol of gathering of the identity right by a nebula composed of supporters of the extreme right, royalist activists, fans of Eric Zemmour, the politician of far right Henry de Lesquen or the anti-Semitic ideologue Alain Soral. But Pepe the Frog is far from being the only reference used by these communities on the Internet: a whole series of other drawings with simplistic lines, called “Wojak”, are used over and over in series of memes or montages. , widely distributed on identity accounts.

The drawing of “Chad”, also born on the American forum 4chan, representing a blond, white, bearded man with virile features, is thus used by some as a symbol of “the idealized Aryan, proud of his European roots, who loves his country and his family”, explains Nicolas Baygert, lecturer in information sciences. Same for the sketch of the “tradwife” (For “traditional wife”, traditional wife), represented blonde, white and wearing a dress with floral patterns, used as an antithetical figure to feminist characters.

“These drawings, often absurd, associated with misinformation and a feeling of being downgraded, in reality convey very precise and much less funny political representations to younger people. It is a sort of violent update of the caricature, which cements a racist discourse”, analyzes teacher-researcher Albin Wagener. Eric Zemmour understands this well, who focuses on Internet culture in his communication. Simple Internet users also fuel these sneers online. “For example, you will have the face of Eric Zemmour implanted in that of Christian Clavier, completely panicked in front of a black postman in a sequence of the film Visitors. Many successful films have been diverted in this way: we ‘memify’ everything, we make the images say something else”, explains Nicolas Baygert.

In his book The Great Replaced. Investigation into a French divide (Arkhê, 2020), journalist Paul Conge evokes the example of Henry de Lesquen, an old hand of the far right, whose teams “did everything to render it visually ‘hyped’“. “Here we add black glasses ‘thug life’, there a colonist hat, here we integrate it into a comic strip titled ‘Henry in the Congo’, there he is put at the controls of a plane full of Africans, subtitled ‘remigration’… writes the journalist. [En quelques semaines, l’intéressé est devenu] a meme, a recurring image on the Web, but also the rallying sign of a youth who claims their provocative fervor,” he adds.

In 2017, Henry de Lesquen popularized the word “candaule”, translation of the American “cuckservative” (literally, “conservative cuckold”), aiming to qualify people who, claiming to be right-wing, would in fact be subject to left-wing ideas – a vocabulary widely used and explained by far-right YouTubers with thousands of subscribers, like Papacito (whose channel was closed by YouTube in June 2023) or Le Raptor (more than 700,000 followers). On the networks, the latter “transmits reactionary and virilist speeches with devastating humor, hitting the mark well beyond an audience of gamers of right. Alongside him, a whole male dissidence skillfully exploits our digital lives to harpoon Internet users of all stripes, to make their ideas sexy and to push young people to accept themselves as being right-wing”, comments Paul Conge.

To make its ideas “acceptable”, the ultra-right also uses numerous elements from pop culture. Joachin Phoenix in the film Joker, Christian Bale in American Psycho, Brad Pitt in Fight Club… Characters featuring white men who challenge the system in place will be used as privileged references. Same for the saga of Lord of the Rings, whose codes the supremacists reappropriate to serve a discourse centered on races, the supposed hierarchies between peoples and “castes”, or for the “red pill-blue pill” dilemma of Matrix, suggesting that some people are awake and that the rest of the population lives in a state of lethargy and ignorance. To the point that deputies Jérémie Iordanoff and Eric Pouillat warn of this phenomenon in a parliamentary report on violent activism, published in mid-November. “[L’ultradroite] uses symbols such as the skull mask from the video game Call of Duty. […] The references to Sparta are also numerous, through inspiration taken from the graphic novel and the film 300“, write the deputies. “The ultra-right creates through these references a political mythology, with either an ironic or heroic dimension, which can go as far as encouragement for combat, a form of hardening… On social networks or in video games, this then translates into a form of reduction, we send interested Internet users to encrypted messaging, where we let ourselves go much more. It’s a bit of a phishing logic,” Eric Pouillat explains to L’Express.

At the same time, these mixtures of memes, videos and references, constantly blurring the boundaries between humor and hatred, are algorithmically consolidated by the platforms. “There is a form of provocation, of transgression that these young people are looking for, much more exhilarating than joining a possible climate march organized by the high school or university,” believes Nicolas Baygert.

This question of the symbolism of memes is also worrying at the highest level: in 2021, the radicalization awareness network of the European Commission even worked on this subject, in a report entitled “It’s not funny anymore” – “It’s not funny anymore”, in French. “We are witnessing a ‘playful’ communication of racist ideologies, particularly in the context of the recent wave of far-right terrorist attacks. […] The ultra-right has established new norms, to give a new image to extremist positions in an ironic form, by blurring the boundaries between playfulness and potentially radicalizing messages”, write the authors, worrying about this “form of nihilistic humor directed against ethnic and sexual minorities and considered to inspire violent fantasies.