The Global Far Right: Brazil Establishes Own Ecosystem on Parler and Mimics American Far-Right Wing

Abstract

This document presents the results of an analysis of the articulations and actions of radicalized groups in alternative social media platforms. The growing migration of users into this sociotechnical networks may be related to the more incisive measures being taken by big techs such as Facebook and Twitter to contain hate speech and attacks against democratic institutions. To understand this process, we will analyze the presence of far-right groups on Parler, a platform with minimal rules regarding banning or removing messages and profiles. From a global database of 93.4 million publications made between November 3, 2020 and January 7, 2021, we seek to: i) identify the major topics, influencers and groups interacting in that period; ii) conduct a specific analysis of the participation of the Brazilian group in the platform; and iii) map out the interactions between far-right groups in Brazil and in the United States. The results showed the formation of a transnational network engaged in the reproduction of discourses aiming to corrode the credibility of democratic institutions.