Extremists-at-Arms: Sentiment Analysis of Extremists with Military Experience

• In Event: Examining Digital Hate and Extremist Discourse

Abstract

Identifying the grievances and support for political violence can assist in investigating how changes to the political discourse influences levels of violence against specific targets over time. The adoption of extremist opinion leads to the justification and support for political violence; therefore evaluating changes to political discourses may help determine increased threats to specific populations, such as racial or ethnic minorities, members of the LGBTQ+ community, or political figures or governmental institutions. This research investigates the participation of users of far-right social media forums. It draws comparisons in grievances, levels of violent rhetoric, and bigotry between civilians and people with military experience and changes to their rhetoric over time. Analysis includes evaluating how military identity is leveraged online and how it influences rhetoric and targets of grievances. This research also evaluates how targets of grievances shift over time and evaluate the potential connection to real-world far-right violence.

Author

• Hope D. LaFreniere, University of Massachusetts Lowell