Exploring the Dangerous Intersection of Incel Ideology, Online Radicalization, and Youth Culture
Last week, 19-year-old Daniel John Harris was arrested in Derbyshire for encouraging terrorism. Harris uploaded videos where he praised hate crimes, supported terrorist attacks and celebrated white supremacists. His videos were even used as inspiration and cited by the shooters who committed mass murders in Buffalo, NY and Colorado Springs—attacks fuelled by racism and homophobia. Whilst, indeed, Harris did not physically harm anyone, his online material has not only lost people their lives and loved ones but has further radicalised those who have watched his videos. Harris is an extreme example of what can happen when we turn a blind eye to the materials being spread in online forums, websites, and social media. Often these materials are distributed innocuously, such as through Youtube self-help videos that quickly pull you down into a far-right rabbit hole.
One avenue within the rabbit hole is the ‘manosphere’, an all-encompassing term that describes the network of online men’s communities against the empowerment of women and who promote anti-feminist and sexist beliefs. Perhaps you’re a 14-year-old boy looking for dating advice, and you find a PUA (pick-up artist) that seems successful, and he suggests you treat women like objects. The advice fails because the reality is that they don’t want you to get better—they want to continue keeping you around as a consumer.
As journalist and author Hussein Kesevani states, “these men are exploiting young people and often pretend that they’re in community with them but in fact they’re just a consumer base. Specifically, a consumer base that exists because these young boys and men are angry, lonely and isolated. It’s a market for humiliation and that’s how they make their money.”
But what happens when these boys and men get tired of the humiliation? Often, they turn to others who feel how they do and continue consuming more and more radicalising content until they end up like Harris. Kesevani adds, "When these guys are around other people going down the rabbit hole as well, you're always bound to meet someone who's gone further and further down. And they're encouraging you to go on and fight forever."
One of the most recent examples of the pipeline in action is with Andrew Tate. Tate is a former Big Brother contestant, and kickboxer turned manosphere icon. He’s currently under investigation for sex trafficking but heralded as a messiah or a ‘Top G’—as his fans call him. He had been banned from Twitter before Elon took over for hate speech for his rants, including depictions of choking women and engaging in sexual violence. Tate’s supporters range in age, but he seems to have influence over young boys in secondary school due to his online presence. The question here is, how do we prevent these boys from falling down the rabbit hole? One way may be to introduce training for the students and their teachers, parents and foster carers.
I had a conversation with Faysal Curry from Lasting Support Service to inquire about his expertise in working with youth and their parents on the critical issue of social media and gaming safety. As part of his role at Lasting Support Services, Faysal offers training and consultancy on this subject to organisations, professionals, parents, and foster carers.
From your experience, is there a reason why they idolise people like Tate?
Faysal: These kids are getting these ideals from the internet but also from our pop culture. You know, you gotta be big, gotta be muscular, you know, the idea of what a man is meant to be. Andrew Tate is just another example of someone willing to manipulate that, whether it’s through masculinity, body dysmorphia or financial success. Instead of these kids having role models in their families or communities, they've latched onto an influencer who sells them the fantasy of what they want. We must ensure someone can counter the fantasy because it's often false.With Tate, for example, his finances come from harming others, and his fans attempt to hide that narrative, but we need to continue bringing it up.
It’s often said that social media can be an echo chamber and that once you’re in the rabbit hole, it’s hard to get out. What’s your thought on that?
Faysal: Part of it is how social media is set up right. The algorithm continuously pairs you up with the same people of similar mindsets over and over and over again, which causes you to end up deeper within it. During one of the talks I did at a school for LSS, I highlighted to the kids that whilst the celebs or influencers were the main images, the issue is that there is this legion of fans that reinforce their messages. You also can't verify these accounts; if they’re suspended for hate speech, it takes you like five minutes to set up a new email, get a new account, and go back to posting what you can. So yeah, it’s an echo chamber. And importantly, it's an echo chamber that's way too easy to get into.
When we have conversations about online topics such as incels or the manosphere, it’s regarded as unimportant as it’s an ‘internet thing’. Does it solely exist online?
Faysal: It definitely spills out to the real world, and people don't tend to catch themselves when they engage in this behaviour. When they’re online, they have that sense of anonymity and avoid repercussions. So now you have people that are used to their bigoted behaviour being so unmoderated they’ve become emboldened to spew that onto others. These issues don’t exist in a vacuum.
There are many ways that one can be radicalised into the incel / manosphere pipeline but it seems that it’s become a lot more prevalent within Telegram, Discord and online gaming forums where young kids are active. How can you explain to parents who are behind with technology how they can approach their kids about this?
Faysal: With the parents, it's obvious, they're not very connected to the online space so it's highlighting to them what kind of apps kids are getting into. And then teaching them how to be approachable, as much as you can teach kids not to talk to strangers online they can also hide information even unknowingly. We need to get parents to catch up, but importantly, get them into a mindset where if their kid comes to you comes to them and says, “hey, I've had this issue online”. They're a lot more understanding about it. It's that 50/50 between getting parents ready to have that conversation and getting kids ready to have that conversation. If the parent is unapproachable or dismissive to these topics, often a child will never say anything until the worst happens.
If you’re a teacher or parent and want training around understanding, online safety, radicalisation, and signs of exploitation, Lasting Support Services is here to help you and the young people in your lives. You can find all the information to make a referral to Lasting Support Services here.
Author: Haaniyah Angus
