Extremist groups are characterised by ideologies which are then followed by actions that can be mildly or violently expressed. Extremist groups are shaped by common ignorant beliefs and group unity. Extremism is commonly driven by racial purity, anti-Semitism, political hegemony, anti-liberal and anti-government forces.
The Australia First Party (AFP) which was founded by Graeme Campbell might as well b
e viewed as an extremist party. Upon entering their website one is bombarded with white Australia pride images, one such as Ned Kelly. Some articles you might find are the second anniversary of the Civil Uprising in Cronulla (December 11 2005) AFP is calling on all patriotic people to honour the great moment of Australian democratic liberty and Housing crisis directly linked to (Asian) immigration.
I was in oar when reading the articles posted on the AFP. It seems absolutely ridiculous that the people who write this stuff might actually believe what they are writing and I find it hard to believe that a person could read such racist pieces of writing and think it is rational. In saying this however the website is very cleaver in how they put their messages across-they insinuate their racist messages. Such as “new arbiters of a colour-blind faith in racial diversity” and stating that they can “fix the problem” (Pell, J, Saleam, J & Hale, V, 2008). They AFP seem to put their messages of hate across in such a justifiable manner that their arguments could very well be viewed as completely coherent and based on reason. I think the AFP website is a great example of an extremist website which is using the Internet as an outlet for attracting and recruiting new members.
Another extremist group which uses the Internet as a tool to get their intolerant beliefs out into the world is Aryan Nation. Aryan Nation is an anti-Semitism group that strongly and wholly believe in racial purity. On their website they have writings stating that Jews run everything and further have statements which deny the holocaust. The Aryan Nation group asserts that “Jews around the world intentionally lied for the purpose of gaining emotional and business a
dvantages for themselves”. There was one item on this bizarre site did make me laugh beacause of its sheer abnormality and that was a link titled “Jew Watch” which follows Zionism and its terror and lies. The site also comes equip with a guide on how to commit a hate crime and a step by step program for how to make a bomb.
While both previously mentioned website are both of extremist nature it would appear that they go about their views in two completely different ways. The AFP normalises their hatred,
extreme views and racism through professionally written documents with their message being convey as common sense. Aryan Nation uses shock tactics as a means to involve its viewer. Some of the shock tactics I viewed were aborted babies which in a sick way will make me remember their website. One of the most important aspects for these sorts of websites is the ability for networking. Both of these web pages had a huge amount of added links to other similar sites with similar views. 
The great thing about the Internet is that one can locate just about anything. The problem is that many aspects can be hard to censor. For instance on television you would never see aborted baby photos or bomb recipes. Also the Internet it a great breeding ground for extremists groups because people all over the world can be members. No longer do groups have to arrange meeting places to discuss actions and beliefs, they can simply log to a site and contribute that way. The Internet is used here as an outlet to recruit persons with similar views or can even convince an easily influenced person of ignorant ideas. Further the Internet is a much more effective way of recruiting members as it a public sphere available to billions of people world wide.
The Australia First Party (AFP) which was founded by Graeme Campbell might as well b
e viewed as an extremist party. Upon entering their website one is bombarded with white Australia pride images, one such as Ned Kelly. Some articles you might find are the second anniversary of the Civil Uprising in Cronulla (December 11 2005) AFP is calling on all patriotic people to honour the great moment of Australian democratic liberty and Housing crisis directly linked to (Asian) immigration.I was in oar when reading the articles posted on the AFP. It seems absolutely ridiculous that the people who write this stuff might actually believe what they are writing and I find it hard to believe that a person could read such racist pieces of writing and think it is rational. In saying this however the website is very cleaver in how they put their messages across-they insinuate their racist messages. Such as “new arbiters of a colour-blind faith in racial diversity” and stating that they can “fix the problem” (Pell, J, Saleam, J & Hale, V, 2008). They AFP seem to put their messages of hate across in such a justifiable manner that their arguments could very well be viewed as completely coherent and based on reason. I think the AFP website is a great example of an extremist website which is using the Internet as an outlet for attracting and recruiting new members.
Another extremist group which uses the Internet as a tool to get their intolerant beliefs out into the world is Aryan Nation. Aryan Nation is an anti-Semitism group that strongly and wholly believe in racial purity. On their website they have writings stating that Jews run everything and further have statements which deny the holocaust. The Aryan Nation group asserts that “Jews around the world intentionally lied for the purpose of gaining emotional and business a
dvantages for themselves”. There was one item on this bizarre site did make me laugh beacause of its sheer abnormality and that was a link titled “Jew Watch” which follows Zionism and its terror and lies. The site also comes equip with a guide on how to commit a hate crime and a step by step program for how to make a bomb.While both previously mentioned website are both of extremist nature it would appear that they go about their views in two completely different ways. The AFP normalises their hatred,
extreme views and racism through professionally written documents with their message being convey as common sense. Aryan Nation uses shock tactics as a means to involve its viewer. Some of the shock tactics I viewed were aborted babies which in a sick way will make me remember their website. One of the most important aspects for these sorts of websites is the ability for networking. Both of these web pages had a huge amount of added links to other similar sites with similar views. The great thing about the Internet is that one can locate just about anything. The problem is that many aspects can be hard to censor. For instance on television you would never see aborted baby photos or bomb recipes. Also the Internet it a great breeding ground for extremists groups because people all over the world can be members. No longer do groups have to arrange meeting places to discuss actions and beliefs, they can simply log to a site and contribute that way. The Internet is used here as an outlet to recruit persons with similar views or can even convince an easily influenced person of ignorant ideas. Further the Internet is a much more effective way of recruiting members as it a public sphere available to billions of people world wide.
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