alt-tech
{{short description|Internet platforms favored by the alt-right}}
{{about|Internet platforms that cater to extremists|environmentally-friendly technologies|Alternative technology}}
{{use mdy dates|date=January 2021}}
Alt-tech is a collection of social networking services and Internet service providers popular among the alt-right, far-right, and others who espouse extremism or fringe theories, typically because they employ looser content moderation than mainstream platforms.{{cite journal |last1=Freelon |first1=Deen |last2=Marwick |first2=Alice |last3=Kreiss |first3=Daniel |author-link2=Alice Marwick |date=September 4, 2020 |title=False equivalencies: Online activism from left to right |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abb2428 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=369 |issue=6508 |pages=1197–1201 |doi=10.1126/science.abb2428 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=32883863 |bibcode=2020Sci...369.1197F |s2cid=221471947 |url-access=subscription |access-date=September 5, 2020 |archive-date=September 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200904084524/https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6508/1197 |url-status=live }} ([http://dfreelon.org/publications/2020_False_equivalencies_Online_activism_from_left_to_right.pdf freely available version]){{Cite web|last1=Andrews|first1=Frank|last2=Pym|first2=Ambrose|date=February 24, 2021|title=The Websites Sustaining Britain's Far-Right Influencers|url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2021/02/24/the-websites-sustaining-britains-far-right-influencers/|url-status=live|access-date=February 25, 2021|website=Bellingcat|language=en-GB|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224170204/https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2021/02/24/the-websites-sustaining-britains-far-right-influencers/ |archive-date=February 24, 2021 }}{{cite journal |title='Alt-tech' will diffuse online extremist presence |journal=Expert Briefings |series=Emerald Expert Briefings |date=2020 |doi=10.1108/OXAN-DB250866}} The term "alt-tech" is a portmanteau of "alt-right" and "Big Tech". Starting around 2015, some prominent conservatives and their supporters began to use alt-tech platforms because they had been banned from other social media platforms.{{cite news |last=Roose |first=Kevin |author-link=Kevin Roose |date=December 11, 2017 |title=The Alt-Right Created a Parallel Internet. It's an Unholy Mess |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/technology/alt-right-internet.html |access-date=September 4, 2020 |issn=0362-4331}}{{cite news |last=Cogley |first=Michael |date=July 6, 2020 |title='Alt-tech' attracts growing number of extremists in Britain |language=en-GB |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2020/07/06/alt-tech-attracts-growing-number-extremists-britain/ |access-date=September 4, 2020 |issn=0307-1235}}{{cite magazine |last=Ellis |first=Emma Grey |date=September 27, 2017 |title=Red Pilled: My Bizarre Week Using the Alt-Right's Vision of the Internet |language=en-us |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/story/alt-tech-social-media/ |access-date=September 4, 2020 |issn=1059-1028}}{{cite web |last=Malter |first=Jordan |date=November 10, 2017 |title=Alt-Tech platforms: A haven for fringe views online |url=https://money.cnn.com/2017/11/10/technology/culture/divided-we-code-alt-tech/index.html |access-date=September 4, 2020 |website=CNN Money}} Alt-tech platforms describe themselves as protectors of free speech and individual liberty, which researchers and journalists have alleged may be a dog whistle for antisemitism and terrorism.{{cite web |last=Squire |first=Megan |author-link=Megan Squire |date=July 23, 2019 |title=Can Alt-Tech Help the Far Right Build an Alternate Internet? |url=https://www.fairobserver.com/business/technology/alt-tech-far-right-online-extremism-hate-speech-technology-news-19919/ |access-date=September 4, 2020 |website=Fair Observer |language=en-US}}{{cite web |last=Silverman |first=Dwight |date=November 12, 2020 |title=5 things to know about Parler, the right-wing-friendly social network |url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/techburger/article/5-things-to-know-about-Parler-the-15720637.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114212319/https://www.houstonchronicle.com/techburger/article/5-things-to-know-about-Parler-the-15720637.php |archive-date=November 14, 2020 |access-date=November 12, 2020 |website=The Houston Chronicle |language=en-US}}{{cite web |date=November 12, 2020 |title=Parler: Where the Mainstream Mingles with the Extreme |url=https://www.adl.org/blog/parler-where-the-mainstream-mingles-with-the-extreme |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114212320/https://www.adl.org/blog/parler-where-the-mainstream-mingles-with-the-extreme |archive-date=November 14, 2020 |access-date=November 14, 2020 |website=Anti-Defamation League |language=en}}{{cite web |last=Saul |first=Isaac |date=July 18, 2019 |title=This Twitter Alternative Was Supposed To Be Nicer, But Bigots Love It Already |url=https://forward.com/news/national/427705/parler-news-white-supremacist-islamophobia-laura-loomer/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630205321/https://forward.com/news/national/427705/parler-news-white-supremacist-islamophobia-laura-loomer/ |archive-date=June 30, 2020 |access-date=August 4, 2020 |website=The Forward}}{{cite book |last1=Zannettou |first1=Savvas |last2=Bradlyn |first2=Barry |last3=De Cristofaro |first3=Emiliano |last4=Kwak |first4=Haewoon |last5=Sirivianos |first5=Michael |last6=Stringhini |first6=Gianluca |last7=Blackburn |first7=Jeremy |title=Companion of the Web Conference 2018 on the Web Conference 2018 – WWW '18 |chapter=What is Gab: A Bastion of Free Speech or an Alt-Right Echo Chamber |display-authors=3 |date= 2018 |location=Lyon, France |publisher=Association for Computing Machinery |pages=1007–1014 |arxiv=1802.05287 |doi=10.1145/3184558.3191531 |url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3184558.3191531 |isbn=978-1-4503-5640-4 |s2cid=13853370 }}{{cite news |last=Katz |first=Rita |author-link=Rita Katz |date=October 29, 2018 |title=Inside the Online Cesspool of Anti-Semitism That Housed Robert Bowers |work=Politico Magazine |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/10/29/inside-the-online-cesspool-of-anti-semitism-that-housed-robert-bowers-221949 |url-status=live |access-date=December 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200502061941/https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/10/29/inside-the-online-cesspool-of-anti-semitism-that-housed-robert-bowers-221949 |archive-date=May 2, 2020}}{{cite journal |last1=Ebner |last2=Kavanagh |last3=Whitehouse |date=December 2022 |title=The QAnon security threat: a linguistic fusion-based violence risk assessment |url=https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/binaries/content/assets/customsites/perspectives-on-terrorism/2022/issue-6/pot-xvi-6-a6-ebner-et-al.pdf |journal=Perspectives on Terrorism |volume=16 |issue=6 |pages=62–86 |issn=2334-3745 |access-date=August 20, 2023 |archive-date=January 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114102320/https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/binaries/content/assets/customsites/perspectives-on-terrorism/2022/issue-6/pot-xvi-6-a6-ebner-et-al.pdf |url-status=dead }}
History
Alt-tech websites were first described in the 2010s. They became popular leading up to the early 2020s due to deplatforming, banning (including shadow banning), and other restrictions imposed on extremists by Big Tech companies. Some right-wing groups claim that these companies censor their views. After the Unite the Right rally in August 2017, technology companies such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter were criticized for deplatforming white supremacists.{{cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1082971164 |title=Post-digital cultures of the far right : online actions and offline consequences in Europe and the US |last1=Fielitz |first1=Maik |last2=Thurston |first2=Nick |year= 2018 |isbn=978-3-8394-4670-6 |location=Bielefeld [Germany] |oclc=1082971164 |publisher=Transcript Verlag }} Hope not Hate researcher Joe Mulhall identified the deplatforming of Britain First in 2018, and Tommy Robinson in 2019, as two major events that spurred British social media users to join alternative platforms.{{cite news |last=Field |first=Matthew |date=March 14, 2018 |title=Facebook bans pages of Britain First and leaders Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen |language=en-GB |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2018/03/14/facebook-bans-pages-britain-first-leaders-paul-golding-jayda/ |access-date=September 4, 2020 |issn=0307-1235}}{{cite web |last=Hamilton |first=Isobel Asher |date=February 26, 2019 |title=Facebook has banned far-right activist Tommy Robinson for spreading Islamophobia |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-bans-tommy-robinson-over-islamophobia-2019-2 |access-date=September 4, 2020 |website=Business Insider}} Ethan Zuckerman and Chand Rajendra-Nicolucci further referenced the August 2018 deplatforming of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones as a pivotal moment.
In October 2018, alt-tech platform Gab received extensive public scrutiny following the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, after it was found that the sole suspect of the attack, Robert Gregory Bowers, had posted a message on Gab before the shooting, indicating an immediate intent to cause harm.{{cite news |last1=Hutchinson |first1=Bill |last2=Levine |first2=Mike |last3=Weinstein |first3=Janet |last4=Seyler |first4=Matt |date=October 28, 2018 |title='Screw the optics, I'm going in': Alleged shooter posts on social media before attack |work=ABC News |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/pittsburgh-synagogue-alleged-mass-shooter-told-swat-officers/story?id=58803485 |url-status=live |access-date=July 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722205039/https://abcnews.go.com/US/pittsburgh-synagogue-alleged-mass-shooter-told-swat-officers/story?id=58803485 |archive-date=July 22, 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Trautwein |first1=Catherine |last2=Thompson |first2=A.C. |date=November 16, 2018 |title=Brothers Whom Authorities Linked to Pittsburgh Shooting Suspect Had Flyer Supporting Neo-Nazi Group, Officials Say |publisher=ProPublica |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/brothers-whom-authorities-linked-to-pittsburgh-shooting-suspect-had-flyer-supporting-neo-nazi-group-officials-say |url-status=live |access-date=August 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128165933/https://www.propublica.org/article/brothers-whom-authorities-linked-to-pittsburgh-shooting-suspect-had-flyer-supporting-neo-nazi-group-officials-say |archive-date=November 28, 2018}} Bowers had a history of making extreme, antisemitic postings on the site.{{Cite news |last1=Pagliery |first1=Jose |last2=Toropin |first2=Konstantin |date=October 30, 2018 |title=Social network Gab, a home for anti-Semitic speech, produced some of its own |publisher=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/30/tech/gab-anti-semitic-speech-invs |url-status=live |access-date=November 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181031162843/https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/30/tech/gab-anti-semitic-speech-invs/ |archive-date=October 31, 2018}} After the shooting, Gab briefly went offline when it was dropped by its hosting provider and denied service by several payment processors.{{Cite news |last=Molina |first=Brett |date=October 29, 2018 |title=Gab, the social network used by accused Pittsburgh synagogue shooter, goes offline |newspaper=USA Today |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/nation-now/2018/10/29/gab-goes-offline-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting/1804582002/ |url-status=live |access-date=October 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181029200235/https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/nation-now/2018/10/29/gab-goes-offline-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting/1804582002/ |archive-date=October 29, 2018}}{{Cite news |last=Linton |first=Caroline |date=November 3, 2018 |title=Gab gets new domain host, expects to be back online Sunday |work=CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gab-new-domain-host-epik-robert-bowers-pittsburgh-shooting |url-status=live |access-date=November 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105062209/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gab-new-domain-host-epik-robert-bowers-pittsburgh-shooting/ |archive-date=November 5, 2018}}{{cite news |last=Baker |first=Mike |date=November 4, 2018 |title=Seattle-area company helps fringe site Gab return in wake of Pittsburgh synagogue shooting |work=The Seattle Times |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/technology/seattle-area-company-helps-fringe-site-gab-return-in-wake-of-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting/ |url-status=live |access-date=May 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505044026/https://www.seattletimes.com/business/technology/seattle-area-company-helps-fringe-site-gab-return-in-wake-of-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting/ |archive-date=May 5, 2019}}
The popularity of alt-tech platforms surged in January 2021, when United States president Donald Trump, and many of his prominent followers, were suspended from Twitter and other platforms. Parler, a website with a large proportion of Trump supporters among its userbase, was taken offline when Amazon Web Services suspended its hosting several days after the January 6 storming of the United States Capitol.{{cite news |last=Wilson |first=Jason |date=January 13, 2021 |title=Rightwingers flock to 'alt tech' networks as mainstream sites ban Trump |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/13/social-media-trump-ban-alt-tech-far-right |access-date=January 16, 2021 |issn=0261-3077}} It was restarted with a new host on February 15, 2021.{{Cite web|last1=Allyn|first1=Bobby|last2=Treisman|first2=Rachel|date=February 15, 2021|title=After Weeks Of Being Offline, Parler Finds A New Web Host|url=https://www.npr.org/2021/02/15/968116346/after-weeks-of-being-off-line-parler-finds-a-new-web-host|access-date=November 22, 2022|website=NPR.org|language=en}}
In July 2021, an example of alt-tech hardware was announced as the "Freedom Phone"{{snd}}a smartphone that promoted privacy-oriented features and an "uncensorable" app store. It was found that the device was merely a white-label version of a Chinese smartphone produced by Umidigi, with a modified Android firmware pre-loaded with apps popular among the target audience, and a rebranded version of an open source client for Google Play Store (rather than the independent app store implied in its promotional materials).{{Cite web |last=Amadeo |first=Ron |date=2021-07-20 |title=The MAGA-targeted "Freedom Phone" has a breathtaking amount of red flags |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/07/the-maga-targeted-freedom-phone-has-a-breathtaking-amount-of-red-flags/ |access-date=2021-07-20 |website=Ars Technica |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Sommer |first=Will |date=2021-07-15 |title=MAGA World's 'Freedom Phone' Actually Budget Chinese Phone |language=en |work=The Daily Beast |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-worlds-freedom-phone-actually-budget-chinese-phone |access-date=2021-08-28}}
By 2022, The New York Times and The Guardian described a crowded marketplace of alt-tech platforms.{{Cite news |last1=Pilkington |first1=Ed |date=February 20, 2022 |title=Trump Truth Social app will be fully operational by end of March, Nunes says |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/20/trump-truth-social-app-fully-operational-march-devin-nunes |access-date=September 27, 2023 |work=The Guardian |language=en}} The Times noted that alt-tech platforms claiming censorship by Twitter – such as Gettr, Parler, and Rumble – have mostly advertised themselves on Twitter.
In February 2022, Trump launched a Twitter alternative, Truth Social, after establishing a messaging platform outside of Twitter, such as a now discontinued Trump blog.{{Cite web |last=Breuninger |first=Kevin |date=2021-06-02 |title=Trump blog page shuts down for good |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/02/trump-blog-page-shuts-down-for-good.html |access-date=2022-02-23 |website=CNBC |language=en}} During development, Truth Social did not at first acknowledge using Mastodon's open source code, and was given an ultimatum by Mastodon,{{cite news |last1=Coldewey |first1=Devin |title=Mastodon issues 30-day ultimatum to Trump's social network over misuse of its code |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/29/mastodon-issues-30-day-ultimatum-to-trumps-social-network-over-misuse-of-its-code/ |access-date=27 September 2023 |work=TechCrunch |date=29 October 2021}} quietly admitting to the use of Mastodon code later on.{{Cite news |last1= Harwell |first1=Drew |title=Trump's Truth Social's disastrous launch raises doubts about its long-term viability |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |date=22 February 2022 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/02/22/trump-truth-social-disaster/ |access-date=27 September 2023 |issn=0190-8286}}{{cite web |last1=Kan |first1=Michael |date=December 1, 2021 |title=Trump's Social Media Site Quietly Admits It's Based on Mastodon |url=https://uk.pcmag.com/social-media/137421/trumps-social-media-site-quietly-admits-its-based-on-mastodon |website=PCMag}} Truth Social's launch was accompanied by substantial technical difficulties.{{Cite web |last=Danner |first=Chas |date=2022-02-21 |title=Trump's Social-Network App Launches Without a Social Network |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/02/trumps-truth-social-app-launches-without-a-social-network.html |access-date=2022-02-23 |website=Intelligencer |language=en-us}} The platform's terms of service include an incongruous clause that users may not "disparage, tarnish, or otherwise harm, in our opinion, us and/or the Site."{{Cite magazine |last=Bort |first=Ryan |date=2021-10-21 |title=Trump's New Free Speech App Prohibits Users From Making Fun of It |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-truth-social-free-speech-app-terms-1245408/ |access-date=2022-02-23 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}} According to a report from consumer rights group Public Citizen, alt tech platforms with a supposed focus on free speech include the censorship of some liberal and conservative viewpoints, as well as the routine content moderation on other platforms, creating an "echo chamber". Based on the report, Truth Social was found to shadowban users that disagree with the site's narrative as well as a swathe of other content including some conservative content. "Truth Social" has banned content mentioning liberal views on abortion and the Congressional hearings on the January 6th Capitol attack.{{Cite web |last=Leonard |first=Kimberly |title=Trump's purported free speech social media platform Truth Social is hiding user posts, threatening to create a 'curated echo chamber,' research group finds |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/truth-social-is-shadow-banning-posts-despite-promise-of-free-speech-2022-8 |date=2 August 2022 |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Truth Can't Handle the Truth |url=https://www.citizen.org/article/truth-cant-handle-the-truth/ |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=Public Citizen |date=August 2, 2022 |first=Cheyenne |last=Hunt-Majer |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Spangler |first=Todd |date=2022-06-10 |title=Trump's Truth Social Is Banning Users Who Post About Jan. 6 Hearings, According to Reports |url=https://variety.com/2022/digital/news/trumps-truth-social-is-banning-users-who-post-about-jan-6-hearings-according-to-reports-1235290726/ |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}
Research
Deen Freelon and colleagues, publishing in Science in September 2020, wrote that some alt-tech websites are specifically dedicated to serving right-wing communities, naming 4chan (founded in 2003), 8chan (2013), Gab (2016), BitChute (2017) and Parler (2018) as examples. They noted that others were more ideologically neutral, such as Discord and Telegram. Discord and Telegram have been used by QAnon conspiracy theorists to promote terrorism, which contributed to the January 6th attack. Discord later worked to remove right-wing extremists from its userbase, and became a more mainstream platform.{{Cite web|last=Brown|first=Abram|title=Discord Was Once The Alt-Right's Favorite Chat App. Now It's Gone Mainstream And Scored A New $3.5 Billion Valuation |date=30 June 2020 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2020/06/30/discord-was-once-the-alt-rights-favorite-chat-app-now-its-gone-mainstream-and-scored-a-new-35-billion-valuation/|access-date=2021-05-18|website=Forbes|language=en}} Joe Mulhall, a senior researcher for the UK anti-racism organization Hope not Hate, also distinguishes groups of alt-tech platforms: he says that some of them, such as DLive and Telegram, are "co-opted platforms" which have become widely popular among the far-right because of their minimal moderation; others including BitChute, Gab, and Parler are "bespoke platforms" which were created by people who themselves have "far-right leanings". Ethan Zuckerman and Chand Rajendra-Nicolucci, in contrast, described alt-tech services in explicitly political terms in a 2021 article for the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University:
{{Blockquote|text=We use the alt-tech term to refer to platforms that offer a promise of uncensored speech, which exist specifically to give a space for far-right, nationalist, racist, or extremist points of view, and which harbor a broad sense of grievance that speech has been "censored" for failure to be "politically correct." Many, but not all of these alt-tech sites are far-right communities.|author=Ethan Zuckerman and Chand Rajendra-Nicolucci{{cite web |last1=Zuckerman |first1=Ethan |author-link=Ethan Zuckerman |last2=Rajendra-Nicolucci |first2=Chand |date=January 11, 2021 |title=Deplatforming Our Way to the Alt-Tech Ecosystem |url=https://knightcolumbia.org/content/deplatforming-our-way-to-the-alt-tech-ecosystem |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111182330/https://knightcolumbia.org/content/deplatforming-our-way-to-the-alt-tech-ecosystem |archive-date=January 11, 2021 |access-date=January 16, 2021 |website=Knight First Amendment Institute |publisher=Columbia University |language=en}}|title=|source=}}
Researchers have also found that alt-tech platforms can also be used by far-right extremists for mobilization and recruitment purposes, which is more dangerous than just spreading their viewpoints.{{cite book |last1=Donovan |first1=Joan |title=Post-Digital Cultures of the Far Right: Online Actions and Offline Consequences in Europe and the US |last2=Lewis |first2=Becca |last3=Friedberg |first3=Brian |date=2018 |publisher=Transcript Verlag |isbn=978-3-8394-4670-6 |editor-last=Fielitz |editor-first=Maik |location=Bielefeld, Germany |pages=49–66 |chapter=Parallel Ports: Sociotechnical Change from the Alt-Right to Alt-Tech |doi=10.14361/9783839446706-004 |editor2-last=Thurston |editor2-first=Nick |doi-access=free }}
Austrian researcher Julia Ebner has described alt-tech platforms as "ultra-libertarian".{{Cite journal |last=Ebner |first=Julia |date=2019-09-05 |title=Replatforming Unreality |url=https://jods.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/k109mlhg/release/1 |language=en |issue=6 |doi=10.21428/7808da6b.e585ddcb |doi-broken-date=November 1, 2024 |journal=Journal of Design and Science }}
Platforms
= List of alt-tech platforms =
See also
References
{{reflist}}
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Category:2010s in Internet culture