The Ultra-Right: Media, Discourses, and Communicative Strategies| Transnational Conspiracies Echoed in Emojis, Avatars, and Hyperlinks Used in Extreme-Right Discourse

Abstract

This study examines how, during the COVID pandemic, the Greek far-right discourse was repurposed through the use of social media affordances in YouTube comments by extreme-right activists. In particular, it focuses on how followers of “Greeks for the Homeland,” a movement founded in 2020 by Ilias Kasidiaris, the former spokesperson of Golden Dawn, reworked the newly formed movement’s argumentation. Drawing on the concept of frame, our methodology includes studying the choice of affordances, such as emojis, avatars, and hyperlinks, and examining their role in the argumentation and  appraisal of such crises. These affordances help anchor the discourse in conspiracy-related and nationalistic rhetoric. Our findings are contrasted with previous investigations into other studies focused on extreme-right discourse, bringing to the fore a focus on cultural values (religion, family), and a reframing of the protection of the Self rather than the aversion of the Other.