cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/40188039
Left-wing extremists have been showing “substantial activity on Lemmygrad.ml” with an accompanying increase in toxicity, a new joint study published by Binghamton University and Cyprus University of Technology on Arxiv says.
The researchers also identified posts that support authoritarian regimes, endorse the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and feature anti-Zionist and antisemitic content.
“Overall, our findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of political extremism within decentralized social networks and emphasize the necessity of analyzing both ends of the political spectrum in research,” the researchers conclude.
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Users on Lemmygrad.ml frequently discuss […] China and North Korea, with many posts expressing support for them.
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Discussions [on Lemmygrad.ml] on the Israel-Palestine conflict primarily criticize Israel. While many posts condemn antisemitism, [the authors] also encounter numerous posts that extend beyond criticizing Israel, displaying anti-Zionism and even antisemitism.
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[The study] results show that users of Lemmygrad.ml frequently share posts that support authoritarian regimes, as seen in their support for China, North Korea, and Russia. Moreover, their support can extend beyond backing these authoritarian regimes, even cheering on their violent actions, as evidenced by their posts on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Additionally, we observe anti-Zionist and antisemitic behaviors, which show similarities to right-wing extremism.
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Our analysis suggests a concerning endorsement of authoritarian actions and extremist rhetoric on Lemmygrad.ml, further indicating that left-wing extremist communities on decentralized platforms should receive more attention from the academic community.
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That they equate anti-zionism with antisemitism tells me all I need to know about these sockpuppets.
they equate anti-zionism with antisemitism
No, they don’t. Just read the study.Please read my second comment below.Yes they do. This is the passage they claim to be antisemetic:
“1. Jews arent a nation 2. Isael is a fake country. 3. The only thing which could be more fake than Isael and the “jewish” national identity would be for the fans of start trek in to create a language of their own similar to english, then enter the bourgeoisie and amass wealth and power, and then invade some imperialized nation 200 years later, settle in it and claim their own stark-treakish fake nation state. And they will justifyng this by quoting some science fiction book written in the 1900s which tells how are they the chosen people to colonize this new land. Everyone identifing as a jew is a zionist and an enemy of the communist and anti imperialist movement.”
the comment was removed and the user banned over 5 years ago too
Was this a reference to the tankies? Then yes, this may be interpreted so.
When reading @DeflatedOne’s post that “they equate anti-zionism with antisemitism”, I understood by ‘they’ they were referring to the researchers rather than the tankies. So that was my mistake. My apologies.
I’m sorry but I was talking about the authors. I understand how the last sentence may be interpreted as a conflation between the two, but at the beginning of the paragraph, they make it clear that they’re talking about the jewish national identity, and not the jewish religious/cultural identity.
This is just one paragraph (and even this one can’t be interpreted the way you do it). You can’t just read a single paragraph and then make an inference for the whole study.
The authors provide a clear picture of this community and its derailed world views, which also includes cheering on violent actions and a lot of ambiguities similar to right-wing ideologies, as the study suggests.
Where is the drama?
In people’s imagination.
“Overall, our findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of political extremism within decentralized social networks and emphasize the necessity of analyzing both ends of the political spectrum in research,” the researchers conclude.
Tankies are being tankies, that doesn’t mean we need to equally spend resources on “both ends” of the political spectrum. We need to spend resources on fighting authoritarianism, no matter the colèur.
Also: what a title. Study finds the tankie instance is filled with tankies.
