Red Ice
{{short description|White supremacist media company}}
{{use mdy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Red Ice
| logo = Red Ice logo.svg
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| formation = {{start date and age|2002}}
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| founding_location = Gothenburg, Sweden
| type = White supremacist{{refn|name="white supremacist"}}
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| key_people = Lana Lokteff and Henrik Palmgren
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| language = English
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| website = {{URL|https://redice.tv/}}
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{{Antisemitism|expanded=Web}}
Red Ice is a white supremacist{{refn|name="white supremacist"|{{cite news |last1=Willingham |first1=AJ |title=Middle school teacher secretly ran white supremacist podcast, says it was satire |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/05/us/dayanna-volitich-white-nationalist-florida-school-podcast-trnd/index.html |access-date=28 December 2020 |work=CNN Digital |publisher=CNN |date=6 March 2018 |language=en |quote=Red Ice is a white supremacist media company |archive-date=January 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118182229/https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/05/us/dayanna-volitich-white-nationalist-florida-school-podcast-trnd/index.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=2019-11-21 |access-date=2022-06-23 |first1=Julia Carrie |last1=Wong |author-link=Julia Carrie Wong |title=White nationalists are openly operating on Facebook. The company won't act |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/21/facebook-white-nationalists-ban-vdare-red-ice |newspaper=The Guardian |quote=Red Ice TV is "a group that styles themselves as a news organization when they are primarily a political organization, and the politics are staunchly white supremacist", Donovan said. |archive-date=June 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220623013532/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/21/facebook-white-nationalists-ban-vdare-red-ice |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=March 5, 2022 |title=Hate Beyond Borders: The Internationalization of White Supremacy |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/reports/hate-beyond-borders-the-internationalization-of-white-supremacy |access-date=2022-11-21 |website=Anti-Defamation League |language=en |quote=He has ties to a number of white supremacists in the U. S., and wrote articles for Altright.com., the now-defunct site headed by white supremacist Richard Spencer, as well as Red Ice, a white supremacist media outfit. |archive-date=September 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927021243/https://www.adl.org/resources/reports/hate-beyond-borders-the-internationalization-of-white-supremacy |url-status=live }}}} multimedia company founded in Sweden and led by the married couple Lana Lokteff and Henrik Palmgren. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has described Red Ice as being important in the YouTube alt-right radicalization pipeline, further radicalizing people tentatively on the far-right and having "a history of embracing white supremacist rhetoric and talking points".{{cite web |last=Miller |first=Cassie |title=McInnes, Molyneux, and 4chan: Investigating pathways to the alt-right |url=https://www.splcenter.org/20180419/mcinnes-molyneux-and-4chan-investigating-pathways-alt-right |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |access-date=10 May 2020 |language=en |date=19 April 2018 |archive-date=May 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507202311/https://www.splcenter.org/20180419/mcinnes-molyneux-and-4chan-investigating-pathways-alt-right |url-status=live }}
The recording studio is based in the Idaho panhandle.{{cite web|title=Can White America Be Reclaimed? - Thomas Rousseau|url=https://rumble.com/v6str01-can-white-america-be-reclaimed-thomas-rousseau.html|website=Rumble|date=May 1, 2025}}
Products and content
From 2002 to 2012, the main focus of Red Ice's content was conspiracy theories such as aliens, 9/11, the Illuminati, and Freemasonry. In 2012, the outlet shifted to concentrate on ideas of race, and especially to the idea of the white genocide conspiracy theory in response to what the couple perceived as "anti-white sentiment" coinciding with the Black Lives Matter movement.{{cite news |last1=Bowman |first1=Emma |last2=Stewart |first2=Ian |title=The Women Behind The 'Alt-Right' |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/08/20/544134546/the-women-behind-the-alt-right |access-date=10 May 2020 |work=NPR |language=en |archive-date=October 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191017181346/https://www.npr.org/2017/08/20/544134546/the-women-behind-the-alt-right |url-status=live }}
As of 2017, Red Ice's main output was its weekly talk-radio-style programs. Interviews make up part of this content; Lokteff searches for personalities on the internet based on viewer recommendations and brings them on the program. Lokteff hosts her own program, Radio 3Fourteen, which highlights white nationalist women and alt-right preferences towards gender roles: men as strong, rational, political, and the decision-making partner, and women as emotional, family-centered, and supportive. These programs are repackaged in additional audio and video formats. Red Ice also has premium, paywalled content. After shifting into the white supremacist space, Red Ice also began producing newscasts.
Lokteff's guests have included Lauren Southern and Faith Goldy, among others.{{cite book |last=Stern |first=Alexandra Minna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_--dDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Lauren+Southern%22+%22white+nationalist%22&pg=PA131 |title=Proud Boys and the White Ethnostate: How the Alt-Right Is Warping the American Imagination |location=Boston, Mass. |publisher=Beacon Press |year=2019 |page=101 |isbn=978-0807063361 |quote=As a home for the small but active alt-right sisterhood, Radio 3Fourteen brings together female alt-righters with their followers on social media. Regulars include ... Canadian white nationalists Lauren Southern and Faith Goldy |access-date=March 21, 2023 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404131152/https://books.google.com/books?id=_--dDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Lauren+Southern%22+%22white+nationalist%22&pg=PA131 |url-status=live }} In March 2018, Simon Roche, a spokesperson for the Suidlanders, a South African Afrikaner supremacist group, claimed in an appearance on Red Ice that it was deadlier to be a white farmer in South Africa than a police officer.{{Cite web |last=Gedye |first=Lloyd |date=2018-03-23 |title=White genocide: How the big lie spread to the US and beyond |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2018-03-23-00-radical-right-plugs-swart-gevaar/ |access-date=2022-11-21 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA |archive-date=April 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200405033326/https://mg.co.za/article/2018-03-23-00-radical-right-plugs-swart-gevaar/ |url-status=live }} Adolf Hitler was also described as "The Great One" on Red Ice's website.{{Cite web |date=March 22, 2016 |title=The Kalergi Plan for European Genocide |url=https://redice.tv/news/the-kalergi-plan-for-european-genocide |access-date=March 7, 2023 |website=Red Ice |quote=With the rise of Mussolini in Italy, The Great One in Germany and Franco in Spain... |archive-date=January 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230104190815/https://redice.tv/news/the-kalergi-plan-for-european-genocide |url-status=live }} In April 2018, the SPLC said that Red Ice was "exploring white nationalism, antisemitism and Holocaust denial, and promoting the myth of white genocide."
Red Ice TV hosted videos for the white nationalist conference 'Awakening' held in Finland in April 2019.
In June 2023, Police Scotland launched an investigation into content published on BitChute that directed abuse and threats towards First Minister Humza Yousaf after receiving a complaint from his office. The content included several Red Ice videos featuring Lokteff, one of which called for Yousaf to "go back" to Pakistan and accused him of trying to "infiltrate and destroy white Scottish culture and heritage".
History
In 2002, Henrik Palmgren started Red Ice in Gothenburg.{{cite magazine |last1=Darby |first1=Seyward |title=The Rise of the Valkyries |url=https://harpers.org/archive/2017/09/the-rise-of-the-valkyries/8/ |access-date=10 May 2020 |magazine=Harper's Magazine |date=1 September 2017 |language=en |archive-date=December 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220155805/https://harpers.org/archive/2017/09/the-rise-of-the-valkyries/8/ |url-status=live }}
In August 2017, Henrik Palmgren said that hackers had taken down the Red Ice website and were going to release names of 23,000 subscribing members. This event occurred alongside the hacking of several other neo-Nazi and alt-right platforms. On other hacked sites at the time, the actions were claimed in the name of the decentralized group Anonymous.{{cite news |last1=Dixit |first1=Pranav |last2=Feder |first2=J. Lester |last3=Warzel |first3=Charlie |last4=Kantrowitz |first4=Alex |title=White Supremacist Platforms Are Being Targeted By Hackers And Rejected By Hosts |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pranavdixit/godaddy-has-kicked-white-supremacist-website-the-daily |access-date=9 May 2020 |work=BuzzFeed News |date=14 August 2017 |language=en |quote=On Saturday, Henrik Palmgren of Red Ice, a white supremacist multimedia platform |archive-date=July 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709031053/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pranavdixit/godaddy-has-kicked-white-supremacist-website-the-daily |url-status=live }}
In September 2018, YouTube limited some videos by Red Ice after it posted a video claiming that white women were being "pushed" into interracial relationships.{{Cite news |last=Sommer |first=Will |author-link=Will Sommer |date=2018-09-06 |title=YouTube Won't Ban 'They Want You Dead, White Man!' Channel |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/youtube-wont-ban-they-want-you-dead-white-man-channel |access-date=2024-09-11 |work=The Daily Beast |language=en}}
In April 2019, comments and monetization were disabled by YouTube on a livestream of a House Judiciary Committee hearing hosted by Palmgren and Lokteff due to commenters' use of anti-Semitic slurs, white nationalist memes, and derogatory remarks about women in the hearing.{{cite news |last1=Broderick |first1=Ryan |title=Comments Were So Racist On Livestreams Of A Congressional Hearing On White Nationalism YouTube Had To Disable Them |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanhatesthis/youtube-disables-comments-on-livestream-of-congressional |access-date=9 May 2020 |work=BuzzFeed News |date=9 April 2019 |language=en |archive-date=June 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613130728/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanhatesthis/youtube-disables-comments-on-livestream-of-congressional |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Alvarez |first1=Alejandro |title=Lawmakers held a hearing on white nationalism. On YouTube, it was immediately attacked with hate speech. |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/hate-speech-hits-youtube-livestreams-house-hearing-rise-white-nationalism-n992386 |access-date=10 May 2020 |work=NBC News |date=9 April 2019 |language=en |archive-date=June 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200602000716/https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/hate-speech-hits-youtube-livestreams-house-hearing-rise-white-nationalism-n992386 |url-status=live }}
In June 2019, Red Ice's YouTube channel was demonetized due to YouTube's recently expanded policy guidelines, which prohibited videos "promoting or glorifying Nazi ideology," spreading Holocaust denial and rejecting "well-documented events" like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.{{cite news |last1=Broderick |first1=Ryan |title=YouTube Will Now Block Discriminatory Content, Just A Day After Saying It Doesn't Violate Its Policies |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanhatesthis/youtube-block-discriminatory-content |access-date=9 May 2020 |work=BuzzFeed News |date=5 June 2019 |language=en |archive-date=October 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027004802/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanhatesthis/youtube-block-discriminatory-content |url-status=live }} In October 2019, the channel was banned for hate speech violations. The channel had about 330,000 subscribers. Lokteff and Red Ice promoted a backup channel in an attempt to circumvent the ban.{{cite news |last1=Ramirez |first1=Nikki McCann |title=White nationalist Red Ice TV is promoting a backup channel to skirt its YouTube ban |url=https://www.mediamatters.org/white-nationalism/how-white-nationalist-red-ice-tv-working-around-its-youtube-ban |access-date=October 20, 2019 |work=Media Matters for America |date=October 18, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=October 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020215745/https://www.mediamatters.org/white-nationalism/how-white-nationalist-red-ice-tv-working-around-its-youtube-ban |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Gais |first1=Hannah |title=YouTube Takes Down Red Ice's Main Channel |url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/10/21/youtube-takes-down-red-ices-main-channel |access-date=October 22, 2019 |work=HateWatch |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |date=October 21, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=October 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022081513/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/10/21/youtube-takes-down-red-ices-main-channel |url-status=live }} A week later, the backup channel was also removed by YouTube.{{cite news |last1=Gais |first1=Hannah |date=October 23, 2019 |title=YouTube Yanks Second Red Ice Channel |language=en |work=HateWatch |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/10/23/youtube-yanks-second-red-ice-channel |access-date=October 27, 2019 |archive-date=October 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191025010112/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/10/23/youtube-yanks-second-red-ice-channel |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Katzowitz |first1=Josh |date=October 24, 2019 |title=Red Ice, a popular white supremacist YouTube channel, has been shut down—again |url=https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/red-ice-youtube-ban/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240509131236/https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/red-ice-youtube-ban/ |archive-date=May 9, 2024 |access-date=November 25, 2019 |work=The Daily Dot |language=en}}
In November 2019, Facebook banned Red Ice from using its platform.{{cite news |last1=Wong |first1=Julia Carrie |title=Facebook to ban two white nationalist groups after Guardian report |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/26/facebook-white-nationalist-ban-red-ice-tv-affirmative-right |access-date=June 12, 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=November 27, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=June 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220612073204/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/26/facebook-white-nationalist-ban-red-ice-tv-affirmative-right |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Facebook bans two prominent white nationalist groups after Guardian report |url=https://www.engadget.com/2019-11-27-facebook-bans-white-nationalist-groups-guardian.html |access-date=2022-11-21 |website=Engadget |date=November 27, 2019 |language=en-US |archive-date=November 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121033235/https://www.engadget.com/2019-11-27-facebook-bans-white-nationalist-groups-guardian.html |url-status=live }}
== Influence ==
In August 2017, Red Ice had 130,000 YouTube subscribers. By April 2019, it had over 300,000 subscribers and by October, 335,000 subscribers and 44.7 million total views.{{cite news |last1=Owen |first1=Tess |title=White nationalists from around the world are meeting in Finland. Here's what you need to know. |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/heavyweights-from-the-white-nationalist-world-will-be-bonding-in-finland-this-weekend-heres-what-they-want/ |access-date=10 May 2020 |work=Vice |date=4 April 2019 |language=en |archive-date=March 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313082337/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qvy7vx/heavyweights-from-the-white-nationalist-world-will-be-bonding-in-finland-this-weekend-heres-what-they-want |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Red Ice TV's YouTube Stats (Summary Profile) - Social Blade Stats |url=https://socialblade.com/youtube/c/redicecreationsofficial |access-date=2022-12-26 |website=socialblade.com |archive-date=December 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226170854/https://socialblade.com/youtube/c/redicecreationsofficial |url-status=live }} In November 2019, it had 90,000 followers on Facebook. As of June 2023, Red Ice maintains a social media presence on BitChute, Odysee, Telegram, VK, Rumble and Gab.{{Cite news |last=McLaughlin |first=Martyn |date=3 June 2023 |title=Police Scotland launches investigation into racist abuse and threats aimed at Humza Yousaf |work=The Scotsman |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/police-scotland-launches-investigation-into-racist-abuse-and-threats-aimed-at-humza-yousaf-4168374 |url-status=live |access-date=16 August 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230603070157/https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/police-scotland-launches-investigation-into-racist-abuse-and-threats-aimed-at-humza-yousaf-4168374 |archive-date=3 June 2023}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://redice.tv}}
- [https://redicemembers.com Red Ice Members]
{{Alt-right footer}}
{{Fascism}}
Category:Holocaust denial in Sweden
Category:Internet properties established in 2002