cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/40188039
Left-wing extremists have been showing “substantial activity on Lemmygrad.ml” with an accompanying increase in toxicity, a new joint study published by Binghamton University and Cyprus University of Technology on Arxiv says.
The researchers also identified posts that support authoritarian regimes, endorse the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and feature anti-Zionist and antisemitic content.
“Overall, our findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of political extremism within decentralized social networks and emphasize the necessity of analyzing both ends of the political spectrum in research,” the researchers conclude.
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Users on Lemmygrad.ml frequently discuss […] China and North Korea, with many posts expressing support for them.
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Discussions [on Lemmygrad.ml] on the Israel-Palestine conflict primarily criticize Israel. While many posts condemn antisemitism, [the authors] also encounter numerous posts that extend beyond criticizing Israel, displaying anti-Zionism and even antisemitism.
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[The study] results show that users of Lemmygrad.ml frequently share posts that support authoritarian regimes, as seen in their support for China, North Korea, and Russia. Moreover, their support can extend beyond backing these authoritarian regimes, even cheering on their violent actions, as evidenced by their posts on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Additionally, we observe anti-Zionist and antisemitic behaviors, which show similarities to right-wing extremism.
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Our analysis suggests a concerning endorsement of authoritarian actions and extremist rhetoric on Lemmygrad.ml, further indicating that left-wing extremist communities on decentralized platforms should receive more attention from the academic community.
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It’s crazy how letting people say what they want on the internet is seen as controversial.
Just goes to show how conditioned the average idiot has been in order to make nobody can share rhetoric that threatens the status quo.
Lemmygrad isn’t left wing. It’s authoritarianism with a different way to take people’s money.
In our analysis, we aim to contribute to the existing body of knowledge on the Decentralized Web, pointing out the double-edged sword it represents in terms of promoting democratic discourse on the one hand and enabling extremist content on the other. In doing so, we call for a more nuanced understanding of the impacts of Web decentralization and the need for innovative governance mechanisms that safeguard against the proliferation of extremist ideologies while upholding the principles of freedom and democracy that are the basis of the Decentralized Web.
Whoever these researchers are, they’ve discovered that people on the self-described Marxist instances are communists. Well done! And they want to shut down the proliferation of tankie views alongside “anti-Zionism” and “anti-Semitism”. Seems like there may be a bit of an agenda here that goes beyond disinterested academic research.
I am a communist. I don’t like MLs because they make communists look like the american propoganda version of what a communist is.
I feel similarly. They’re useful idiots and counterproductive. But they kind of take care of themselves because no one likes listening to them. Even people who are attracted to socialism or communism don’t like them. It doesn’t feel the same as the situation with fascism today, where it seems to suck people from all over the spectrum into its vortex.