Across The Internet, A Game Of Whac-A-Mole Is Underway To Root Out Extremism

As big tech companies "deplatform" domestic extremists, the far-right is innovating around this clampdown by embracing and in some instances creating novel technologies, experts say.

Mainstream companies such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter were already policing their services before the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, but they accelerated their efforts following the riot. It has led to an exodus of extremists to new platforms and the growth of "alt-tech," a term used to describe the sort of clone technology created by extremists to get around "deplatforming." The techniques are not particularly sophisticated but show a resourcefulness among those who have been marginalized by the mainstream companies.

Nick Fuentes, one of the most prominent young far-right extremists in America, is a key example of this trend. The 22-year-old has been kicked off multiple sites for livestreaming a pro-Trump podcast that regularly features racist and anti-immigrant screeds. After the livestreaming website Twitch banned him, he moved on to another video streaming platform called D-Live. He was then kicked off that website, despite its reputation as a permissive and loosely policed site.