It’s almost like grooming’: how anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theorists, and the far-right came together over COVID
The far right are capable recruiters
If you go back two years ago, anti-vaxxers were a tiny minority. They have grown significantly in size and influence online.
I have observed in my research the far right consciously appropriating the language of anti-vaxxers, of the conspiracy movements, seeking to exploit their anger and distrust.
I spend a lot of time on the encrypted messaging groups used by these groups and in the online spaces where they organise. I have seen the same names popping up, and growing use of hard right or far right national socialist iconography.
