‘After the landslide victory of Donald Trump in the United States, the alt-right did not hesitate to reassert their ideology online. The Republican election victory seems to provide a layer of increased legitimacy to political thoughts that are openly misogynistic. Indeed, a wave of extremism on social media crashed on every platform, changing the pro-choice feminist slogan ‘my body, my choice’ into ‘your body, my choice’. This and other comments threatening sexual violence suggest that women’s rights in the US will be at stake in the next 4 years. However, it is likely that this ideology does not stay confined to the United States but rather spreads to other countries that are seeing a rise in the far-right, including the United Kingdom. This article will briefly present the risks associated with the increased and legitimised popularity of the misogynistic alt-right in the US and propose some policies that could be adopted in the UK to reduce the impact of this wave of extremism.

The alt-right and Trump 

Despite being a conservative movement, the ideology supported by the alt-right is more controversial and extremist, deeply resonating with Trump’s rhetoric. The alt-right advocates for white supremacy have strong nationalist sentiments and attempt to reestablish male supremacy over women. On the latter point, they deny pro-choice ideologies and believe that not only should women not decide whether to procreate or not, but also should not have freedom in the sexual sphere. Without mincing words, these milieus promote rape and dominance over women as the legitimate practice. During Trumps mandate in 2016, the alt-right made their public appearance, being endorsed by the President himself, who was (and still is) part of that online community. His online activity incited and validated the alt-right until it was exacerbated in the assault at Capitol Hill. Indeed, the rise of the alt-right coincided with the rise of hate crimes and the normalisation of discriminatory and derogatory rhetoric, mainly spread through online means.

The alt-right impact in the UK 

The alt-right in the US is formed by several different groups, but the common characteristic is that they spread their ideology online. This is often through memes and trends on online platforms such as Reddit, X (former Twitter) and more niche platforms like 4chan. This means that even if there is not a coordinated ideology or a leading group, the flow of ideas is extremely fast-paced and, most importantly, does not have borders. The transnational character of the alt-right movement means that there will be strong implications and consequences globally, including the UK.

Despite the election of Starmer and the triumph of the Labour Party, there are still influential figures in the UK who resonate with Trump’s rhetoric quite openly. Representatives of the most extreme forms of conservativism like Nigel Farage could spur the British far-right to emerge more abruptly. It is no secret that the UK has seen a rise in far-right ideologies recently, with escalations such as the riots that spread all over the country, following the disinformation over the Southport attack. While the situation may appear to have calmed down, events like the US elections are likely to light the spark to make them rise from their apparent latency. When extremist ideologies that lean towards Trumps vision are normalised, they are no longer regarded as being the extremity of the spectrum, but rather they gain legitimacy in mainstream politics, making them more dangerous.

Policy proposals

It appears to be clear now that the risk of this violent and misogynistic rhetoric can easily take hold of the UKs far-right environment. This situation calls for prompt policies with a proactive attitude that can help contain the threat and reduce the chances of an escalation.

In the first place, prevent/counter violent extremism (P/CVE) practitioners must be prepared to adequately tackle the threat, channelling more efforts towards social media policies and content moderation. The latter should look out for any increase in pro-life – or better anti-choice – activity online and the spread of sexual violence threats.

However, an even more proactive approach would entail improving education and media literacy. On the one hand, increasing awareness in schools regarding sexual violence, womens rights and current regulations on critical issues such as abortion can make a great contribution to reducing the number of young people joining the alt-right movement. Educational environments should not let the guard down on sexual education and should contribute to reinforcing key concepts such as consent and the original pro-choice slogans like ‘my body, my choice’.

On the other hand, spreading more information on how to safely access and surf social media and online platforms can reduce the damage caused by dis- and mis- mis-information. Indeed, as the riots instigated by the alt-right after the Southport attack demonstrate, the spread of false or distorted information can have devastating and uncontrollable effects.

Conclusion

To conclude, the election of Donald Trump is likely to deeply influence the behaviour of the UK far-right. To avoid an escalation of online violence, a joint effort between P/CVE practitioners and the education sector is mandatory. Recent history has shown the wave of violence that derives from the online activity of the alt-right, both in the United States and the United Kingdom. Hence, it is necessary to promptly put into practice the lessons learnt and implement policies that have great chances to contain the threat fuelled by Trump’s recent electoral victory.