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Right-wing extremism

September

Herbert Kickl, leader of the Freedom Party of Austria, centre, celebrates with supporters during an election night rally in Vienna.

Austrian far right wins vote, but won’t form government

Despite the Freedom Party winning the most votes for the first time in a national election, its leader, Herbert Kickl, appears unlikely to play a role in the next cabinet.

  • Marton Eder and Jonathan Tirone

August

Pavel Durov

Why Telegram became the go-to app for troublemakers

A light-touch approach to content moderation means the software is now a prime target for governments trying to stop criminal activities and misinformation.

  • Eleanor Thornber and Jeff Stone

July

Marine Le Pen with Jordan Bardella, the 28-year-old who had hoped to be France’s next prime minister.

Why does France’s far right get stronger with each election?

The Western nation has not responded well to the challenges of globalisation, which is a problem that also applies to the whole of Europe.

  • Adrian Blundell-Wignall
Populist-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon wants to play kingmaker.

Markets on tenterhooks as French politicians jostle for power

France’s left-wing parties are scrambling for a way to break the political impasse created by President Emmanuel Macron’s snap parliamentary election.

  • Hans van Leeuwen
Marine Le Pen’s party was even beaten by President Macron’s centrist alliance.

How it all went wrong for Le Pen’s National Rally

The second round of the election was framed as a referendum for or against the hard right party, and the French clearly came out against.

  • Henry Samuel and Rebecca Rosman
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June

Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel, leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, celebrate in Berlin.

Markets hit after Macron calls snap French election

The euro fell and European markets tumbled after far-right parties made big gains in EU elections, prompting French PM Emmanuel Macron to call a snap poll.

  • Updated
  • Raf Casert and Lorne Cook

September 2022

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong speaks during the United Nations General Assembly.

Amid global tensions, Australia looks for regional friends

Penny Wong’s foreign policy is taking on an increasingly different tone from that of her Coalition predecessors, with low-key meetings to cement relationships with our closest neighbours.

  • Andrew Clark

April 2021

For over two years Caolan Robertson produced videos for a who’s who of the far right, but says he has since come to regret his role in the rise of online extremism.

Confessions of a former alt-right YouTuber

The methods are simple: focus on conflict, feed the algorithm, make sure whatever you produce reinforces a narrative, and don’t worry about whether it is true.

  • Cade Metz

March 2021

One of the massage parlours where a gunman killed people in Atlanta.

‘Horrific’: Hate crime fears as six Asian women shot dead in Atlanta

US police say a 21-year-old man who killed eight people in a shooting rampage in Atlanta said he had a sex addiction and that the crimes were not racially motivated.

  • Kate Brumback
Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier outside the US Capitol in Washington DC.

Two charged over assault of US Capitol officer who died after riot

The two men were part of the US Capitol riots encouraged by Donald Trump in an effort to overthrow Joe Biden’s presidency on January 6.

  • Michael Balsamo

February 2021

The Proud Boys had a key part in the Capitol riot in Washington on January 6.

Canada formally declares Proud Boys a terrorist group

The Proud Boys was among 13 groups added to the government’s terrorism list, including three other far-right or neo-Nazi groups.

  • Ian Austen

January 2021

A protester holds a Q sign while waiting to enter a campaign rally with President Donald Trump in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in 2018.

'We all got played': QAnon fans in shock as reality of defeat dawns

As Joe Biden was sworn in peacefully and Donald Trump slunk away to Florida, many extremist conspiracy theorists finally began to wonder if they had been duped.

  • Drew Harwell and Craig Timberg
US President Donald Trump speaks at the "Save America March" rally before the Capitol was stormed by his supporters.

Free speech is not a free pass

The right to freedom of expression cannot be interpreted as a right to incite crime or violence.

  • Craig Emerson

November 2020

A woman prepares to lay flowers outside the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand in memory of the 51 people who were killed when a gunman attacked two mosques.

Far right a bigger threat to West than Islamic State: terrorism index

Lone wolf attacks from far-right extremists are a growing threat to Western democracies, a report says.

  • Emma Connors

October 2020

QAnon supporters joined other protesters marching in Düsseldorf, Germany, against coronavirus measures.

QAnon is thriving in Germany, and the extreme right is delighted

In Germany, like in the United States, far-right activists were the first to make QAnon an unexpected and volatile new political element when the authorities were already struggling to root out extremist networks.

  • Updated
  • Katrin Bennhold
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A right-wing demonstrator gestures toward a counter-protester as members of the Proud Boys and other right-wing demonstrators rally in Portland, Oregon, on September 26.

Proud Boys' trade in political violence finds moment in the sun

The far-right band of brothers who have turned street thuggery into political theatre were not quite a household name before Donald Trump told them to "stand back and stand by".

  • Neil MacFarquhar, Alan Feuer, Mike Baker and Sheera Frenkel

June 2020

Activist group Extinction Rebellion has become the target of fake campaigns created to discredit the organisation.

Coronavirus crisis gives eco-fascism a boost

The idea that lockdowns have given the planet a reprieve has been swiftly hijacked by far-right, nationalist movements.

  • Sarah Manavis

April 2019

David Rowe illustration Mother of populism? Pauline Hanson Donald Trump 7 March 2019

Australian intolerance is growing

The popularity of the populist right points to an uncomfortable truth that both major political parties will have to confront in next month's federal poll.

  • Aaron Patrick

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/right-wing-extremism-1mv1