메뉴 건너뛰기

XEDITION

등업게시판

Middle-class white schoolchildren in Britain aged as young as nine are being referred to  a far-right deradicalisation charity after becoming 'brainwashed' by memes.

Exit Hate UK chief executive Nigel Bromage said the average age of referrals to his London-based organisation was 15 but they even had one as old as 68.

Mr Bromage, who spent 20 years in the far-right, said it was 'often self-referrals or parents referring their children' and 'middle-class white children who feel lost'.

Those whose children were referred say they are often radicalised via memes - viral images that capture and distil ideals into an easily shareable format. 

The group had just 11 annual referrals when he founded it in 2016 - but this has since increased to consistently between 100 and 150 per year, he told The Times.

Mr Bromage was the West Midlands organiser of C18 (Combat 18), and a founder of their public face - the National Socialist Alliance - and a member of C18's national council. 

But he quit the far-right after growing increasingly uncomfortable with the violent rhetoric being spread by his peers. His activities also cost him his marriage. 

He claimed excessive screen time was often linked to radicalisation, with Exit Hate seeing a 300 per cent rise in referrals during the pandemic.

He said: 'Our youngest ever referral has been nine years old but usually they are around 15, with the oldest we have ever had being 68 years old.




Former far-right activist Nigel Bromage left the movement and set up an anti-extremism charity to help those caught up in the throes of hate





He now runs charity Exit Hate - which says it is taking on more cases involving young children being radicalised online (file image) 





Internet memes are now an easy way for hate figures to spread their ideologies - often using innocuous looking figures such as Pepe the Frog (pictured)

'It's often self-referrals or parents referring their children, and its often middle-class white children who feel lost. The majority are young and well-educated.

'They are worried that when they start talking about sex and immigration they will be called sexist or racist, and these far-right groups offer them a safe space to have those conversations.

'They are mainly far right, neo-Nazi and incel extremists that get referred to us and malware can spend as long as two years going through our deradicalisation programmes.'



Read More

Extremists are using memes and conspiracy theories to lure young people say police who stopped two far-right and two Islamist terror plots in last year


Sarah Hardy, a mother who works with Exit Hate on training programmes, said her son John was first radicalised aged 14 with a meme shown by a friend on a phone.

The meme said: 'British soldiers are on the streets because immigrants are taking all the houses. They're just left to die.'

And Ms Hardy told The Times: 'As a mother you go through so many emotions: confusion, fear, grief. It's like losing your child. Physically, he was still there, but the John I knew and loved was gone.'

Social media and messaging platforms have been instrumental in allowing hate to flourish online - and the weapon of choice among its architects is the meme, a cover-all term for viral images that are copied and spread online.

Taking after the anthropological term for cultural ideas that are passed down from generation to generation, internet memes can capture large, complex ideas in a single image - and are easily remixed and shared on among online communities.

But this can extend to far-right ideas, such as white nationalism, toxic ideals of masculinity and women's role in society and racist stereotypes - all made palatable, digestible and easily spread in a matter of seconds.

But many have dark undertones - or have been co-opted and toxified by far-right movements. Pepe the Frog, a cartoon amphibian drawn by artist Matt Furie, was absorbed into hate movements around a decade ago, to Furie's dismay.




Mr Bromage now runs charity Exit Hate - which says it is taking on more cases involving young children being radicalised online











Two examples of 'wojak' memes, depicting a Nazi SS stormtrooper and the 'tradwife' meme typically used by alt-right communities to represent conservative roles for women in society

Your browser does not support iframes.

Your browser does not support iframes.




Counterterror police chief Matt Jukes (pictured) has called on Britain to follow Australia's lead in banning social media for the under-16s

And 'wojak' memes - innocuous-looking Microsoft Paint drawings of cartoon faces - are often used to subtly promote these far-right ideals.

Other memes take the form of images with claims written on them in bold text, typically without a source, or use AI to generate racist images - such as a 'British' lion roaring at monkeys, a coded racist metaphor for people of colour.

But they carry currency in internet communities that will often take their claims at face value without question. 



Read More

MI5 boss Ken McCallum reveals 'staggering' three-fold rise in children investigated for terrorism with online memes drawing them into right-wing ideologies


Experts say their innocuous appearance may be helping to shift the 'Overton window' - the frame within which certain political ideals are deemed acceptable - so far-right views are seen as acceptable.

This week, the UK's head of counterterrorism Matt Jukes compared the harm caused by social media use to 'cancer' - warning that the radicalisation of young people was forming a greater part of MI5 and counterterror police work.

He has suggested that the UK follow Australia in imposing a social media ban among under-16s - despite critics claiming it would be unenforceable. 

He told the Times: 'If I give you a parallel with the harm caused by smoking, by 1950, it was clear that smoking was causing lung cancer and killing people. 

'But it took decades for governments to decide to regulate, not even the supply of tobacco more closely, but even just the advertising of tobacco to young people in places where young people could see it.

'So that kind of delay of decades is what we can't sustain against this challenge.'

And last year, MI5 boss Ken McCallum revealed the agency had reported a three-fold rise in children being investigated for terrorism, with memes typically playing a role in the youngsters' radicalisation. 

Speaking at the Counter Terrorism Operations Centre in west London in October, he said: 'Sadly, 13 per cent of all those being investigated by MI5 for involvement in UK terrorism are under 18.

'That's a threefold increase in the last three years. Extreme right-wing terrorism in particular skews heavily towards young people, driven by propaganda that shows a canny understanding of online culture.'


LondonNew York TimesMI5Graphics

번호 제목 글쓴이 날짜 조회 수
공지 esky에 오신걸 환영합니다. 관리자 2024.12.09 33
4079 An Introduction To Different Types Of Slot Games XavierPorter0918294 2025.07.12 0
4078 Answers About Websites ShantaeBaughan640 2025.07.12 0
4077 Stress Relief Tips You Should Use Right Now To Strengthen Workplace JayHelmick8214499718 2025.07.12 3
4076 Прадается Свежая И Проверенная База Для Эффективного Продвижения Вашего Сайта Средствами Хрумера И ГСА! DulcieBrownlee14 2025.07.12 0
4075 Answers About Q&A HuldaPayten220020 2025.07.12 0
4074 How To Save Money On Mighty Dog Roofing ... NevilleParsons03 2025.07.12 0
4073 After Colorado, Civil Rights Lawyer Argues For More Access To Guns - And Pie DeclanGoggins4822 2025.07.12 3
4072 The Most Common Complaints About Mighty Dog Roofing , And Why They're Bunk... ShelleyMaltby923466 2025.07.12 0
4071 What Was The Warning Given To The Japanese About The Impending Danger? LeliaHurtado60905 2025.07.12 0
4070 Protecting Yourself From Untrustworthy Casino Sites CamillaBarge151 2025.07.12 0
4069 Drug & Alcohol Rehab Anderson LeannaBrg4218180743 2025.07.12 0
4068 Money Management For Campus Living ElsieSpinks6397745 2025.07.12 3
4067 Debt Help - When Things Click Beyond Control EYIGarland95336881 2025.07.12 3
4066 Buy Kitchen Cabinets: All The Stats, Facts, And Data You'll Ever Need To Know... FelicaMadera458792 2025.07.12 0
4065 The Porsche Cayman Motor Car EarleneKnox460940283 2025.07.12 3
4064 10 Undeniable Reasons People Hate Mighty Dog Roofing ... AndreasReber22678 2025.07.12 0
4063 Answers About Dresses And Skirts LukeNeil2898873 2025.07.12 0
4062 If You Make A Video With Another Person And You Own The Video Camera Do You Own The Video? KenOMeara30718728848 2025.07.12 0
4061 Online Slot Casino YRISienna63207619 2025.07.12 0
4060 A Trip Back In Time: How People Talked About Premium Quality Cabinets 20 Years Ago... LouannHanks59775576 2025.07.12 0
위로