Category Archives: Far right

Nazi salute will be captured in proposed ban on hate symbols, Queensland government says

Posted on by

New bill also aims to ensure those who commit crimes motivated by prejudice face tougher penalties

Queensland’s attorney general has confirmed the Nazi salute will be captured under proposed laws that ban hate symbols and strengthen the state’s response vilification.

Shannon Fentiman said she had been “shocked” by the presence of Nazis at an anti-trans protest in Melbourne earlier this month.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Twitter loses bid to throw out complaint by Australian Muslim group over ‘hateful’ content

Posted on by

Queensland Human Rights Commission disagrees with assertion complaint is ‘lacking in substance’ and refers matter to tribunal over jurisdiction

Twitter has lost a bid to have a complaint by an advocacy group for Australian Muslims thrown out after they accused the platform of failing to take action against accounts that incite hatred.

The Australian Muslim Advocacy Network (Aman) lodged a complaint to the Queensland Human Rights Commission (QHRC) last June. They argued that, as a publisher, Twitter Australia and Twitter Inc are responsible for content posted by a far-right account that has been referred to in the manifesto of a white supremacist and mass murderer.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Two arrested as mob sets upon protesters outside Mark Latham event in Sydney

Posted on by

Rainbow rights group says peaceful protesters were set upon outside a Catholic church in Belfield

A gay and LGBTI rights group says a group attacked peaceful protesters outside a Catholic church in south-west Sydney, where One Nation’s Mark Latham was giving a speech.

Community Action for Rainbow Rights said on Twitter that as they were protesting outside St Michael’s church hall in Belfield, a mob set upon the protesters.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Drag queen storyteller says readings ‘help youngsters discover true selves’

Posted on by

Aida H Dee’s Tate Britain events attracted rival protests from a far-right group and counter-protests led by Stand Up to Racism

A drag queen whose storytelling sessions for children prompted rival demonstrations over the weekend has defended the event as a way of helping youngsters discover their true selves.

Sab Samuel, whose drag name is Aida H Dee, hosted three Drag Queen Story Hour UK readings in Tate Britain in London on Saturday, while about 30 protesters from the far-right group Patriotic Alternative gathered outside chanting “leave our kids alone”.

Continue reading...

Queensland cracks down on hate crimes in wake of recent Nazi propaganda

Posted on by

Labor will introduce a bill to move serious vilification from the anti-discrimination act into the criminal code

Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

The Queensland government will make changes to the criminal code and increase jail terms for vilification as it cracks down on hate crimes after a series of “horrific” antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents.

The attorney general, Shannon Fentiman, announced on Monday that a bill would be introduced into Queensland parliament in March to amend existing offences.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Police seize neo-Nazi paraphernalia in series of raids across south-east Queensland

Posted on by

Exclusive: Three men charged with damage offences, with the state government yet to outlaw the display of hate symbols

Queensland counter-terrorism police have charged three men in relation to the displaying of neo-Nazi material, after conducting raids on three separate addresses across south-east Queensland.

Police told Guardian Australia that officers had discovered a number of offensive banners, stickers and flyers after executing search warrants on residential addresses in the Brisbane suburb of Toowong, and Gold Coast suburbs of Pimpama and Oxenford.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Flood warnings issued for Murray River in South Australia – as it happened

Posted on by

The SA SES has told residents in low-lying areas along the river to prepare to evacuate. This blog is now closed

Woolworths salads recalled in NSW, ACT, Queensland and Victoria

A food recall notice has been issued for two salads sold at Woolworth stores across New South Wales, the ACT, Queensland and Victoria.

Food products containing unsafe plant material may cause illness if consumed. ​

Consumers should not eat this product and should return the products to the place of purchase for a full refund. Any consumers concerned about their health should seek medical advice.​

Continue reading...

NSW becomes second state to ban Nazi flag and symbols

Posted on by

Intentionally bearing swastikas can now land a person in jail for up to a year and a fine of over $100,000

Intentionally waving a Nazi flag in New South Wales or displaying memorabilia bearing swastikas could now land a person in jail for up to a year, along with a fine of over $100,000.

The Crimes Amendment (prohibition on display of Nazi symbols) Bill 2022 swiftly and unanimously passed the NSW upper house on Thursday.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Encrypted messaging apps should be regulated to tackle extremism, Victorian inquiry hears

Posted on by

Experts say spread of misinformation and use of encrypted services drives far-right extremists and racism

The federal government needs to take action against encrypted messaging apps like Telegram to curb the rise of far-right extremism, a Victorian inquiry has been told.

Dr Belinda Barnet, a media lecturer at Swinburne University, told a hearing that far-right extremists had initially been sharing hateful content on mainstream sites such as Facebook and Twitter but were increasingly being deplatformed.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

UK Prevent scheme should be ‘ideologically blind’, says adviser

Posted on by

Amid leaks of strategy’s review, Sara Khan says focus on only one form of extremism is counterproductive

The counter-terrorism Prevent programme, which has been dogged by claims of being a cover to spy on Muslim communities, should be “ideologically blind”, a government adviser has said.

The strategy is currently the subject of a review by Sir William Shawcross, and leaks suggest it will conclude that Prevent has been too focused on rightwing extremism in recent years. Instead it will say there should be a renewed focus on Islamist extremism, the leaks show, prompting accusations that the findings are politically motivated.

Continue reading...

‘Fascist fitness’: how the far right is recruiting with online gym groups

Posted on by

Anti-fascist group Hope Not Hate says extremists present self-improvement as part of wider political struggle

The far right is increasingly recruiting via online fitness groups, whose popularity soared during the pandemic, prompting fears that new members are being radicalised to commit acts of violence, new analysis shows.

Researchers have detected a network of online “fascist fitness” chat groups on the messaging app Telegram with a large number directly linked to the neo-Nazi Patriotic Alternative, Britain’s biggest extreme right group.

Continue reading...

Met investigates death threats against Keir Starmer in wake of Johnson’s Savile slur

Posted on by

Telegram posts show far-right groups ‘emboldened’ by physical attack on Labour leader

The Metropolitan Police is investigating death threats against Keir Starmer made in the wake of Boris Johnson’s accusation that he “failed to prosecute” Jimmy Savile.

A cache of evidence documenting the threats was sent to Scotland Yard on Friday afternoon, including a number of apparently identifiable users on the messaging app Telegram who called for the Labour party leader to be hanged or “executed”.

Continue reading...

The UK’s homegrown conspiracy groups with links to QAnon

Posted on by

The British anti-vax community is small – but well organised

The most comprehensive analysis of the UK’s anti-vax community reveals that just 0.32% of the population is active in the movement, contradicting its claim to represent “the 99%”.

The first analysis of its kind shows that the anti-vax movement is far smaller than expected, with about 220,000 unique active users identified within a network of 427 groups on the messaging app Telegram, its preferred platform.

Continue reading...

After rightwing attacks on rescues, UK lifeboat charity has record fundraising year

Posted on by

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution has had ‘significant’ increase in annual donations after it went to the aid of asylum seekers

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is on course for the highest annual fundraising total in its near 200-year history. Donations swelled after the charity attracted huge public support following rightwing attacks for helping save the lives of asylum seekers at risk of drowning in the Channel.

The RNLI said it has received a significant increase in support, with online donations rising by 50% this year.

Continue reading...

Revealed: the towns at risk from far-right extremism

Posted on by

Harlow joins seaside resorts on charity’s list of 52 vulnerable areas in England and Wales

It was conceived as an “essay in civilisation”, but some have argued that Harlow has on occasion fallen short of this lofty ambition. Now a new analysis heralds fresh woe for the Essex new town – designed in 1947 – by labelling it one of the places in England and Wales most “at risk” from the fallout of the pandemic, which could spill over into support for rightwing extremism.

Of 336 councils, researchers identified 52 – including Harlow – where Covid is believed to have caused community tension and could inspire far-right activity. A report out on Monday from the Hope not Hate charitable trust says each of the places suffered a significant downturn in the pandemic, has a history of slow recovery from economic shocks and displays “less liberal than average” attitudes to migration and multiculturalism.

Continue reading...

‘Tyranny’: US rightwingers portray nightmare vision of Australia’s Covid response

Posted on by

The feedback loop between US conservative media and Australia’s fringe right has intensified as New South Wales and Victoria have struggled with outbreaks

At a rowdy rally to protest against mask mandates in New York on Monday, some participants carried Australian flags and joined in with chants such as “Save Australia”.

Many Australians were puzzled by what seemed a sudden, unbidden show of support, but this spectacle was the culmination of a months-long effort in conservative US media to portray Australia’s coronavirus response as having brought the country to the brink of authoritarianism.

Continue reading...

Labour candidate Kim Leadbeater wins narrow victory in Batley and Spen byelection

Posted on by

Sister of murdered MP Jo Cox holds West Yorkshire seat for party, easing pressure on leader Keir Starmer

Labour has narrowly won the Batley and Spen byelection, holding on to the West Yorkshire seat after a hotly contested campaign.

Labour won 13,296 votes with the Tories recording 12,973, according to official results. Kim Leadbeater defeated Ryan Stephenson, the Conservative candidate, by 323 votes. George Galloway, representing the Workers Party of Britain, came third with 8,264 votes.

Continue reading...

UK’s anti-terror chief fears rights group boycott threatens Prevent review

Posted on by

Neil Basu says move to protest appointment of William Shawcross could harm process

Britain’s best chance of reducing terrorist violence risks being damaged amid a huge backlash to the government’s choice of William Shawcross to lead a review of Prevent, the country’s top counter-terrorism officer has told the Guardian.

Assistant commissioner Neil Basu’s comments came after key human rights and Muslim groups announced a boycott of the official review of Prevent, which aims to stop Britons being radicalised into violent extremism.

Continue reading...

People with extremist views less able to do complex mental tasks, research suggests

Posted on by

Cambridge University team say their findings could be used to spot people at risk from radicalisation

Our brains hold clues for the ideologies we choose to live by, according to research, which has suggested that people who espouse extremist attitudes tend to perform poorly on complex mental tasks.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge sought to evaluate whether cognitive disposition – differences in how information is perceived and processed – sculpt ideological world-views such as political, nationalistic and dogmatic beliefs, beyond the impact of traditional demographic factors like age, race and gender.

Continue reading...

Misinformation runs rampant as Facebook says it may take a week before it unblocks some pages

Posted on by

News remains blocked as satirical websites are reinstated and Qanon and anti-vaxxers continue to be unaffected

Facebook may wait up to a week before unblocking some of the pages of hundreds of non-media organisations hit by its news ban, while anti-vaccination content and misinformation continues to run rampant on the social media platform.

News was blocked on Facebook in Australia on Thursday morning in response to the federal government’s news media code, which would require Facebook to negotiate with news publishers for the payment for content.

Continue reading...