ABSTRACT
Activists of the Alternative Right has long derided a supposed progressive bias by online service providers and deplatforming from mainstream social media platforms. This chapter explores the “alt-tech” sub-movement within the broader Alternative Right which, through new technologies and organising, attempts to solve the issue of being hugely dependent on internet platforms while not being in control over them. As a form of online separatism, individuals and groups create their own alternatives to mainstream platforms, from funding services, to video sharing platforms to basic infrastructure, which are partially or entirely under their own control. This chapter also examines several examples of these platforms, their commonalities, and the activists behind them. Unsurprisingly, almost exclusively framed as “free speech” platforms they deride most forms of censorship and moderation, which together with demanding users and sometimes difficult access to infrastructure provide challenges in running them. However, the ongoing broader push to a decentralised, more secure and privacy preserving internet, is also actively exploited by the Alternative Right.
