ABSTRACT
The far right has as a whole has undergone two parallel changes since the turn of the millennium: the shift to the web, and the increased focus on Islam and Muslims. This chapter takes both of these shifts into account, using network analysis to trace anti-Islamic organizations’ Facebook ties in March 2015 and March 2016. It shows that initiatives like PEGIDA and the English Defence League are part of a transnational and growing network, with over 1,000 anti-Islamic groups online. It also reveals that anti-Islamic communities build links with actors traditionally portrayed as enemies by the extreme right. This corroborates work showing that anti-Islamic initiatives portray themselves as defenders of Western civilization, Jews, women, and LGBT minorities. At a meso level, the ideological position and organizational ties of anti-Islamic groups represent a qualitative break with the traditional extreme right. However, the refugee crisis in 2015 has coincided with a stronger presence of the anti-Semitic and homophobic Eastern European extreme right. This has made the distinction fuzzier, possibly reversing the previous trajectory.
