By Ashley Young-
An investigation has found that dozens of white nationalist hate groups have been in receipt of donations to sell products online with the help of mainstream online merchants and payment processors like Amazon, DonorBox, and Stripe.
The movement is said to have been empowered in the Trump era and is motivated by a conspiratorial fear of demographic change that white nationalists often characterise as “the great replacement” or “white genocide.” The Investigation by The Centre For Media and Democracy links the white nationalist, neo-Nazi, and neo-Confederate groups that are still able to use online fundraising platforms.
Investigators used the Southern Poverty Law Center’s 2019 list of hate groups to conclude that at least 24 white nationalist, neo-Nazi, and neo-Confederate groups use one or more online fundraising services. Among the listed groups include white nationalist organisations such as the Council of Conservative Citizens, which inspired Dylann Roof to murder nine African American churchgoers, the H.L. Mencken Club, Peter Brimelow’s VDARE Foundation, and the media operation Red Ice. Four neo-Nazi groups and one neo-Confederate store use online payment services.
Revelation that Amazon sells books from white nationalist publishers, including Radix Journal and Arktos Media, which are both tied to “alt-right” leader Richard Spencer, is both shocking and disappointing. Institutions, such as Color of Change, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and the Change the Terms coalition have been campaigning against the groups
from their services, with some success.
“The most powerful force animating today’s radical right—and stoking the violent backlash—is a deep fear of demographic change,” the SPLC report states. “This fear is encapsulated in the conspiratorial notion that a purposeful ‘white genocide’ is underway and that it’s driving ‘the great replacement’ of white people in their ‘home’ countries by foreign, non-white populations. Antisemitism adds fuel to this fire; some white supremacists claim that Jews—as well as progressive politicians—are helping to facilitate this demographic change.”
The report’s author, the investigative journalist Alex Kotch, said in an email that companies should do more to keep hate from their platforms.
“There is absolutely no excuse for a company to service, and make money from, any group identified by SPLC as a hate group,” Kotch said.
He added: “Many people don’t understand that speech on corporate platforms is not subject to the first amendment. As long as a company has a formal policy, that company can remove any users who violate the policy.”
SPLC’s Greaves highlights hate groups associated with “alt-right” leader Richard Spencer who does not publicly call for racist violence, but has been involved in the promotion of real-world events that resulted in violence,”. Greaves also points to Neo-Nazi Billy Roper, who sells his books on Amazon, yet “frequently advocates for violent conflict through the various platforms afforded to him.
“Let’s be clear: public speech promoting ideologies of hate always complements and correlates with violent actions,” Brandi Collins-Dexter, senior campaign director of media,
democracy and economic justice at racial justice nonprofit Color of Change, told CMD. “White nationalist groups like [Spencer’s] National Policy Institute, VDARE Foundation, and
[the anti-Muslim] ACT for America wrap themselves in a veneer of social legitimacy, by pushing harmful narratives that fall just under the line of explicit calls to violence. But in
their online expression, they are spreading violence offline.”
When confronted with the findings of the investigation, Amazon submitted a scripted statement which read: “As a bookseller, we believe that providing access to the written word is important. That includes books that some may find objectionable, though we have policies governing which books can be listed for sale.
“We invest significant time and resources to ensure our guidelines are followed, and remove products that do not adhere to our guidelines.
“We also promptly investigate any book when a concern is raised.”