Facebook is fertile ground for radicals

WHEN the English Defence League sprang to life two years ago, it had fewer than 50 members — a rough-and-tumble bunch of mostly white guys shouting from a street corner about what they viewed as uncontrolled Muslim immigration.

Now, the far-right group mentioned by confessed Norwegian gunman, Anders Behring Breivik, as an inspiration says its ranks have swollen to more than 10,000 people, a spectacular rise its leaders attribute to the immense global power of Facebook and other social networking sites.

“I knew that social networking sites were the way to go,” EDL leader Stephen Lennon told The Associated Press. “But to say that we inspired this lunatic to do what he did is wrong. We’ve never once told our supporters its alright to go out and be violent.”

A Facebook page under Breivik’s name was taken down shortly after the attacks last week. A Twitter account under his name had only one Tweet, on July 17, loosely citing English philosopher John Stuart Mill: “One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests.”

Norwegian investigators have pored through data on Breivik’s computer and say they now believe he was acting alone. They have also said they haven’t found any links of concern between Breivik and far right British groups such as the EDL.

In addition to Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter, the Internet hosts thousands of forums for far-left, far-right and other extremist groups. In Germany alone, far-right groups ran some 1,000 websites and 38 online radio stations as of late last year with many aimed at recruiting followers.

Extremists “still favour online chat platforms — often with several hundred participants — but they are increasingly turning to social media,” said Germany’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

Intelligence and law enforcement officials have mixed feelings about the sites. On one hand, they recognise the potential for recruiting groups or individuals into violent movements. On the other, the sites allow officials to track and catch perpetrators. Germany’s interior minister, Hans-Peter Friedrich, told local media this week that he’s more worried about extremists who go underground and “radicalise in secret.”

Most agree that the most violent criminals often give little to no clear warning of the deadly acts they are about to commit, and that sometimes it’s difficult to know when a person is simply boasting or whether their online activity suggests they could become killers.

What’s undeniable is the social media’s power to bring together people with like-minded views.

Several of the email addresses to which Breivik sent his 1,516-page manifesto hours before the Oslo bombing matched Facebook profiles of people flaunting neo-Nazi or ultra-nationalist symbols.

His list of 462 “friends” showed several people with similar profiles, including some with the symbols or illustrations of the Knights Templar, a group that Breivik said he joined after meeting with a group of right-wing men in London.

Some analysts say that although it’s clear social media plays an important role in strengthening the far-right’s sense of identity and solidarity, it’s too early to say how much Facebook and Twitter have helped contribute to extremist violence.

Facebook says it relies on its community to police the site and usually only steps in when individuals or groups are inciting violence or hate. It would not comment on whether it was cooperating with law enforcement agencies looking into the Norway massacre.

The Czech Republic’s counterintelligence service called the Internet the No 1 propaganda tool for extremists in their terrorism report last year.

Germany viewed the threat in a similar way.

Lennon, meanwhile, may find himself spending even more time in the virtual far-right world. The 28-year-old newlywed with a handful of missing teeth is banned from going anywhere near protests. He also claims to have had his assets frozen pending a police investigation. Despite the setbacks, Lennon said his group is growing — and moving beyond the need for social media.