A SNAPSHOT OF FAR-RIGHT ACTIVITY ON GAB IN AUSTRALIA

The report analyses a network of 40 geolocated Australian Gab accounts, finding that the platform serves as a hub for antisemitism, white supremacy, and COVID-19 disinformation. Activity spiked between June and August 2020, coinciding with global Black Lives Matter protests and Melbourne lockdowns. A small number of highly active accounts drove the majority of content, often promoting conspiracy theories about a 'Marxist' infiltration of Western institutions and calling for white separatism or violence.

• Far-right activity on Gab in Australia saw a significant increase between June and August 2020, with monthly posts exceeding 7,500, representing a 90% increase over May. This surge coincided with the second COVID-19 lockdown in Melbourne and global racial justice protests.
• Mobilisation on the platform is heavily concentrated among a few users; the top three most active accounts produced 34,597 posts, which is 75% of the total 45,404 posts in the study's dataset.
• Antisemitism is a prominent feature of the network, with over 11% of all posts containing explicitly antisemitic terms and slurs, including direct calls for violence against Jewish people and their removal from Australian society.
• The Australian far-right used the COVID-19 pandemic to advance their ideology, focusing on pandemic denial, promoting fake cures like hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), and using lockdown restrictions in Victoria to fuel anti-Chinese sentiment and anti-minority hate.
• Discussions regarding Black Lives Matter (BLM) were uniformly negative, with users describing the movement as 'Marxist', alleging it was manipulated by global elites such as George Soros, or claiming it was a front for 'anti-white racism'.
• The network promotes white supremacist and ethnonationalist ideologies, including the 'white genocide' conspiracy theory. Some users discussed tactics to mainstream these views by framing them as 'Christian values' to avoid being labelled as racists.
• Far-right users frequently frame the far-left as an existential threat, alleging a 'Marxist-socialist or communist plot' to infiltrate Australian media, schools, and universities to destroy Western civilisation. This narrative is used to justify calls for white separatism or violence.
• Content related to energy and climate change was overwhelmingly opposed to green energy, with users claiming wind and solar power are inefficient or corrupt and advocating for the use of coal.

APA

Guerin, C., Peucker, M., Fisher, T. J., & Davey, J. (2021). A SNAPSHOT OF FAR-RIGHT ACTIVITY ON GAB IN AUSTRALIA. Institute for Strategic Dialogue. https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/A-Snapshot-of-Far-Right-Activity-on-Gab-in-Australia_final.pdf

Chicago

Guerin, Cécile, Mario Peucker, Thomas J. Fisher, and Jacob Davey. A SNAPSHOT OF FAR-RIGHT ACTIVITY ON GAB IN AUSTRALIA. Institute for Strategic Dialogue, 2021. https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/A-Snapshot-of-Far-Right-Activity-on-Gab-in-Australia_final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Guerin |first1=Cécile |last2=Peucker |first2=Mario |last3=Fisher |first3=Thomas J. |last4=Davey |first4=Jacob |title=A SNAPSHOT OF FAR-RIGHT ACTIVITY ON GAB IN AUSTRALIA |publisher=Institute for Strategic Dialogue |date=May 2021 |url=https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/A-Snapshot-of-Far-Right-Activity-on-Gab-in-Australia_final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{guerin2021snapshot, author = {Guerin, Cécile and Peucker, Mario and Fisher, Thomas J. and Davey, Jacob}, title = {{A SNAPSHOT OF FAR-RIGHT ACTIVITY ON GAB IN AUSTRALIA}}, institution = {Institute for Strategic Dialogue}, year = {2021}, month = may, url = {https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/A-Snapshot-of-Far-Right-Activity-on-Gab-in-Australia_final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }