The Alt-Right Is Revising its Online Strategy After a Backlash
Despite social media bans, the movement is unlikely to be pushed aside
By Courtney Weaver
On Sunday, exactly a year after the violent Unite the Right rally was held in Charlottesville, Virginia, a band of protesters gathered in Washington’s Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House. They were carrying American flags and holding up signs espousing white supremacy.
The Charlottesville event had been the largest white nationalist demonstration in more than a decade. This rally pitted about two dozen demonstrators, flanked by police, against hundreds of counter-protesters. The protest ended early — well before its permit expired.
It was an apt analogy for the current state of the alt-right. If a year ago the rightwing, white nationalist movement was hovering somewhere between the fringe and the mainstream, for now it seems to have slipped back to the edges.
Since the violence in Charlottesville, in which one counter-protester died and dozens more were injured, the alt-right has been beset by internal disputes as it has confronted the repercussions, including court cases and online and in-person targeting by anti-fascist activists.
