The Dark Side of Alt-Social: 2023 - A Year of Misinformation, Conspiracies, & Hate Speech

2023 marked a significant year for alternative social media, with users increasingly flocking to unmoderated sites such as Telegram (800 million users), 4chan (22 million users), and Donald Trump’s Truth Social (607,000 users). The increasing popularity of alternative social (alt-social) media sites such as these is largely driven by the absence of robust content moderation and fact-checking mechanisms across these forums, making them highly attractive arenas for users to push conspiracy theories, hateful rhetoric and misinformation with little to no impunity.  Even more so as the mainstream sites such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok ramp up their efforts to remove harmful content.

As the reach of alt-social expands, so too does the real world harm it causes. 

Disinformation and conspiracy are naturally at home in the alt-social ecosystem, and their proliferation, justification and  validation by alt-social users increasingly sees these untruths takes root: 

• 6% of Americans get their news from alternative social media 
• 33% of alt-social news consumers say they have participated in an in-person political rally or other political activity they learned about on these sites, and 
• 36% have donated money to accounts they follow on these sites. 

This, coupled with the prevalence of prolific hate speech (racism, anti-semitism, misogyny, transphobia, homophobia etc) directly contributes to incitement to physical violence and the increasing popularity of extremist ideologies.

This sort of environment can directly impact an individual’s physical security or reputation; cause serious security issues for companies, dramatically damage brands, revenue and stock prices; and lead to political instability. To highlight just how serious this problem is, we’ve taken a look back at the events from 2023 and how the response they have received across alt-social.  From war to reputation damage, here’s how world events played out across the unmoderated ecosystem…

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January 2023 - The Chinese Balloon
In late January, a Chinese balloon entered U.S. airspace. The appearance of the balloon raised suspicions of Chinese surveillance, causing political uproar in the U.S. and the cancellation of Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's planned visit to Beijing. U.S. military officials collected intelligence about the balloon and the technology on board as it floated across the country for 7 days. Officials took steps to minimize the amount of sensitive information it could collect during this time while they waited until the aircraft was over the ocean before shooting it down.  ‍

Meanwhile on alt-social…users were obsessed. They called the balloon's flight an “act of war” and criticized the U.S. government for not shooting it down earlier - a message that Trump further amplified across Truth Social. The issue was further manipulated by the far right to strengthen anti-immigration rhetoric and to strengthen calls for action at the Southern border. Many suggested an invasion was imminent.

For some, the presence of the balloon (and length of time in the air) was ‘proof’ that the 2020 election had been stolen - manipulated by the Chinese government to ensure Biden (their puppet) won.

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February 2023 - Ohio Train Derailment

A Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, causing a major fire. Residents were forced to evacuate and authorities conducted a controlled  burn-off amidst fears of an imminent explosion, further releasing toxins into the air, soil and nearby creeks. Residents raised concerns about health issues, but state and federal officials claimed there were no dangerous chemical levels present in the air or water. The disaster, and the government's handling of it, became the subject of national scrutiny and criticism. 

On alt-social media, some users blamed Norfolk Southern for prioritizing profit over safety. Others argued the state and federal government’s response was inadequate. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman tweeted a link to news coverage of the Ohio chemical leak and added #OhioChernobyl. This hashtag was used in many posts on alt-social media to suggest the incident was a cover up for something more sinister - the incident was quickly pulled into ongoing ant-semitic conspiracy theories about the Great Reset and 15 Minute Cities.

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March 2023 - Bank Failures

Over the course of five days in March, three U.S. banks failed: Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Signature Bank and Silvergate. They collapsed following a bank run, triggered by rising interest rates and risky business practices. The collapse of SVB and Signature Bank marked two of the largest banks to fail in U.S. history, leading to fears of fallout for the broader industry.

On alt-social and mainstream media, the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate Bank fueled suspicions that regulators may have actively contributed to their downfall. Both banks were heavily used by crypto-currency companies. Some users argued the shutdowns were orchestrated as part of Operation Choke Point 2.0, allegedly a covert initiative by the U.S. government to discourage banks from working with crypto companies.

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April 2023 - Fox-Dominion Settlement

Fox News reached a $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting in a defamation lawsuit, marking the largest publicly known defamation settlement involving a media company in U.S. history. Dominion had filed a $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox, alleging that the network damaged B reputation by promoting baseless conspiracy theories about their voting machines following the 2020 Presidential Election. These theories falsely asserted that Dominion played a dominant role in a scheme to manipulate votes and steal the 2020 election in favor of President Joe Biden over former President Donald Trump.  These narratives continue to run rampant throughout the alt-social ecosystem.

Although Dominion’s lawsuit against Fox generated headlines around the world, news about it was quiet across conservative media. Only a few conservative sources covered the doubts expressed by Fox News hosts about election fraud claims. The majority of the 26 prominent conservative news and opinion sources, including Fox News, either ignored the lawsuit or failed to discuss their hosts' comments. This discrepancy has led media experts to highlight the significance of selective coverage, underscoring biases within conservative media outlets. 

As a result, there was also a distinct lack of chatter across alt-social media during the case. Instead, users on Gab and Truth Social focused on accusing Rupert Murdoch, former chairperson of Fox News, of betraying former President Donald Trump. Others criticized Fox News hosts like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity for not fully believing the election fraud lies they claimed to endorse - a huge slap in the face from their base audience.

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May 2023 - Elon Musk appoints Linda Yaccarino as new Twitter CEO 

Elon Musk appointed Linda Yaccarino, former head of advertising at NBCUniversal, as the new CEO of Twitter, six months after Musk's controversial takeover of the social media platform.

Following the appointment, predominantly negative and offensive posts surged on alt-social media, with the majority of the content posted on Gab and Telegram. A particularly popular narrative fueling discussions and debates revolves around Linda Yaccarino allegedly being a puppet for the World Economic Forum (WEF). Some users participating in these platforms have exhibited antisemitic sentiments, echoing themes associated with the broader conspiracy theories surrounding the so-called Great Reset - a conspiracy that posits that the global elite are the architects of a secretly  emerging totalitarian government. The theory frequently incorporates antisemitic rhetoric, as adherents accuse Jews of orchestrating the plot.

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June 2023 - Anti-Pride Backlash 

Companies, including Anheuser-Busch, Target, Kohl’s, and North Face faced backlash for supporting LGBTQ+ Pride initiatives during Pride Month, branded as “woke capitalists'' by critics. 

Far-right and anti-LGBTQ+ groups are increasingly using alt-social media to launch boycott campaigns targeting organizations that promote Pride merchandise. Some of these campaigns have directly impacted revenue and led to physical harm. In April, Anheuser-Busch was impacted after far-right consumers boycotted Bud Light for partnering with transgender social media influencer, Dylan Mulvaney. The company experienced a significant drop in revenue, violent threats and physical attack following a highly public boycott campaign. The boycott kicked off a troubling trend of the far-right targeting businesses showing support for the LGBTQ+ community this year, with companies such as Target being subjected to a similarly damaging boycott over its store displays during Pride month. The boycott prompted Target to remove Pride merchandise to less visible locations in its stores or remove them altogether. 

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July 2023 -  A Conspiracy Against the “Sound of Freedom”

The box-office hit “Sound of Freedom” was released in theaters on July 4. It depicted the true story of a former Homeland Security agent, and his organization Operation Underground Railroad, in the fight against child trafficking. The film was both successful and controversial, with accusations of the misrepresentation of child trafficking and spreading of far-right conspiracy theories, particularly those aligned with QAnon. The film's distributor denied any political connections, but the controversy persists due to endorsements from figures like Jim Caviezel, who has been a prominent supporter of QAnon for years, and former President Donald Trump, contributing to its label as "MAGA-friendly."

On alt-social media, users were quick to dismiss the accusations. Some users accused Hollywood elites of trying to discredit the film. They criticized the film’s detractors of trying to “shut down” a film about combating child trafficking, a topic that actors on the far right of American politics have attempted to portray as a major problem for years.

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August 2023 - Maui Wildfires and the ‘15 Minute City’ Conspiracy

A deadly wildfire ravaged Maui tragically resulting in the loss of 100 lives. It was the deadliest natural disaster in Hawaii’s history and the nation’s deadliest fire in the latest century. 

Thousands of posts on alt-social made a range of wildly unfounded statements about the blazes––from pushing the idea that imagery of the fires was somehow manipulated to arguing that the fires were intentionally lit as part of a Jewish conspiracy to create a “15 minute city.” The latter claim references an innocuous urban planning concept meant to make urban centers more habitable and easier to live in without cars. Another popular conspiracy claimed the fictional idea that the U.S. government was failing to assist survivors of the catastrophic fires on the Hawaiian island of Maui because it was too busy providing assistance to Ukraine in its war against Russia.

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September 2023 - Proud Boys Leader Sentenced

Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist far-right organization was sentenced to 22 years for seditious conspiracy and other charges related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. 

Concern about arrests and prosecutions of people who participated in the January 6th, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol building appear to be the driving force behind many alt-social users' wary sentiments. Tarrio’s sentence served as further evidence for many users that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump and that the Democrats are a corrupt, autocratic party. This narrative sits at the core of several ongoing conspiracy theories, including the Great Reset narrative.

At least one user on Trump's own Truth Social went so far as to say that the U.S. government would use such arrests as a way to strip pro-Trump protestors of their voting rights, posting the following: “They want to arrest us all and charge us with felonies so we can’t vote. we have to be smarter than they are. j6 taught us what they are capable of and set up to do. there is no justice for righteousness, right now, only for street criminals and elites…” 

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October 2023 - Hamas attacks Israel on Oct 7, war ensues

On October 7th, 2023, the Palestinian group Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel in the southern Gaza Strip. The next day, Israel officially declared that it was ‘at war’ and retaliated with air strikes and artillery.

The alt-social media ecosystem quickly became one of the many tools being leveraged in the Israel-Hamas war. Since the start of the conflict, there has been an unprecedented surge in mis/disinformation, conspiracy theories, propaganda, and hate speech across the ecosystem. Conspiracy theories range from users citing Israel’s state-of-the-art intelligence networks and highly trained security forces to indicate Israel’s pre-existing knowledge of the attack, to others claiming there are Hamas and Hezbollah sleeper cells in the U.S., including certain members of the U.S. government. 

One of the most alarming trends has been the significant increase in antisemitic and Islamophobic rhetoric in the U.S. and around the world. This has already produced offline consequences- the FBI and London Metropolitan Police have reported an uptick in threats against Muslim and Jewish communities, a 6 year-old Palestinian boy was murdered in an anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian in his Illinois home, and a Jewish protestor died after an altercation with a pro-Palestinian protestor.

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November 2023 - Dublin Riot

Widespread unrest erupted in Dublin after a stabbing incident that wounded multiple people, including children. The riot was spurred in part by disinformation and online rumors from far-right accounts on social media, claiming that an “Algerian invader” was to blame for the stabbing. The rioters tapped into anti-immigration sentiments, channeling anger over rising prices and a severe shortage of affordable housing, directing blame toward refugees and asylum seekers.

Users on a variety of alt-social platforms advanced the Irish far-right’s narrative that helped kick off the riots. Their insistence that the attacker was an immigrant was further fuelled by the authorities’ delays in releasing any information about the suspect. Following the riots, alt-social users also took aim at the Irish government, trying to claim that the Irish public had turned against Ireland’s Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, for allegedly being more upset with the “protesters” than the attacker. 

One Patriots user summed up the far-right’s racist sentiments with a post proclaiming that Varadkar, the son of an Indian immigrant, “is not an Irishman and he hates the Irish and will punish them before he punishes the ALGERIAN man who stabbed those little 5yo ethnic Irish girls.” 

As is often the case with events such as this, the narrative about Varadkar soon made the jump from alt-social media to mainstream social media, where X owner, Elon Musk, wrote on his own social network that the Irish Prime Minister "hates the Irish people," vastly amplifying its reach.

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December 2023 - A year of mass shootings

The U.S. is on track to surpass 700 mass shootings this year, shattering previous records, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Currently, the U.S. has experienced 640 mass shootings. At this time last year, the country had experienced 632 mass shootings. The Lewiston mass shooting marked the deadliest of the year, when a 40-year-old shot 18 people and injured 13 in a shooting spree in Maine.   

Alt-social media plays a strong role in gun violence. From disparaging attempts at gun-control, sharing information on how to modify assault rifles through to the radicalization and live streaming of mass-shooters - the ecosystem is a serious part of the problem. 

In April, following more than a week of high-profile news coverage of mass shootings, some users argued the American press is too quick to label certain shootings as hate crimes. According to Pyrra's AI, some of these commenters tried to argue that while “racism is still a major issue in the U.S. and that it affects people of all races . . . shootings are immediately declared as hate crimes by the media if the opportunity presents itself - like a white man shooting a black man. No one stops to consider context, or whether the shooter was justified - stand your ground!” 

Another narrative emerged after the start of the Israel/Hamas conflict, with some users criticizing Israel’s strict gun control regime, arguing that Israelis were left defenseless and advocating against U.S. gun control.

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The above incidents offer a mere snapshot into the reach and dangers of alternative social media.   

Pyrra’s goal is to make the internet and the world safer by identifying and tracking dangerous narratives across the unmoderated corners of the internet where hate and extremism fester. If you think we can help, visit pyrratech.com to learn more.