Blind Networks in the Extreme-Right
Hundred-Handers maintains a Telegram channel which they use to distribute images, publicize successful stickering campaigns, and to call for the harassment of ideological opponents. Images posted to the channel, describing Hundred-Handers activism, include specific instructions for would-be supporters: They are told to buy a certain make of printer and compatible blank stickers, and then to download collections of images from Telegram to be turned into campaign stickers.
Separate images set out the group’s organizational philosophy, referring to the central account which distributes material as the “head” and individual recruits as “hands.” Three key themes emerge:
1. Participation is deliberately anonymous and claims of membership are denied
2. Every ‘hand’ is free to send ideas for future stickers, thereby offering a degree of joint ownership of the campaign material
3. Only material approved by the head can be used.
Older images refer to slightly different procedures in which images are distributed via email (Tutanoa) or by a file-storage platform (spee.ch). This suggests their distribution strategy has evolved over time.
Publicity and awareness-raising is a key element of Hundred-Handers’ strategy and a guest on the extreme-right The Absolute State of Britain podcast in February 2020 celebrated the group’s recent success in securing local media coverage.
Ideologically, the content posted by the group conforms to a generic and far-reaching form of ethno-nationalism demonstrating anti-immigration, traditionalism, anti-globalization, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-Semitic sentiment. Content has also referenced restrictions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Hundred-Handers are not the first to attempt this model. U.K.-based group System Resistance Network (SRN) released a recruitment video in which applicants were encouraged to get in contact anonymously, specifically being instructed to avoid using their real name or location. SRN is legally proscribed in the UK as of February 2020 as an alternative name for National Action, and it is unclear the extent to which their recruitment efforts were successful.
Overall, the combination of a fragmented transnational extreme-right and communications technology has created an online pool of ready-politicized recruits for different kinds of mobilization. Anonymous networks such as the Hundred-Handers can draw on this pool and offer internet-bound activists an opportunity to get involved in physical activism at minimal cost and seemingly with little risk.
A key aspect of this form of direct action is performance and publicity. Individual local acts are combined to give the impression of a larger network; exaggerated claims of scale and reach have been a key aspect of recent extreme-right propaganda.
Although the scope for more coordinated forms of direct action seems limited under this organizational arrangement, this type of activity is a good opportunity for those looking to make the leap from digital-only to real-world activism.
Ben Lee is a Senior Research Associate at Lancaster University.This article is published courtesy of the Center for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (CREST).
