Far-right groups have mobilized emotions around COVID-19 restrictions and vaccinations.
By Bethany Dawson
Weekend News Fellow
UK NewsTeam
A new study has found that the far-right has extended their reach through messaging app Telegram and COVID-19 conspiracy theories.
The London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue study has found that the far-right has been using COVID-19 conspiracy theories to recruit people into their extremist views.
It found that 90% of the most viewed posts from far-right groups contained misinformation regarding COVID-19 vaccines or the pharmaceutical companies manufacturing them.
Furthermore, much of the COVID-19 misinformation spread by far-right groups was underpinned by white supremacist ideologies, including extreme misogyny, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, the study found.