Tech

Talking ‘Culture Warlords’ and the Second Civil War

The Nazism you see in the streets, begins online.
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A militiamen at a pro-gun rights rally in Richmond, Virginia earlier this year. Image by Mack Lamoureux.

The last four years of the Donald Trump presidency has highlighted America’s problems with systemic white supremacism and the white nationalists he has at times supported with a very public wink.

Everybody remembers that day in 2017 in Charlottesville and the issues with the far-right we’ve seen since: Neo-nazi terror groups have used the moment to foment a homegrown insurgency, while militiamen and Boogaloo bois have have plotted kidnappings and assassinations. But before terror moves to the real world, people are radicalized in online chat rooms and message boards.

In her new book Culture Warlords, journalist Talia Lavin goes undercover using multiple digital aliases, to expose the underworld of online fascists, Nazis, and Trump trolls alike. She’s on CYBER this week to tell us more.