EXTREMISMHow Antisemites, Extremists and Conspiracy Theorists are Exploiting the Anti-Vax Movement
The days of lockdowns and social distancing are behind us, but anti-vaccine narratives remain prevalent on social media, and extremists continue to exploit these sentiments to recruit new members, raise money and mainstream their beliefs. Many extremists view anti-vaxxers as a massive pool of potential fresh recruits and followers primed for the “red pill.”
While the days of lockdowns and social distancing are behind us, anti-vaccine narratives remain prevalent on social media, and extremists continue to exploit these sentiments to recruit new members, raise money and mainstream their beliefs. Many extremists view anti-vaxxers as a massive pool of potential fresh recruits and followers primed for the “red pill.”
While the mainstreaming of once-fringe anti-vaccine beliefs poses obvious risks to public health, it also endangers society more broadly. Anti-vaccine beliefs are strongly associated with lack of trust in the government, media and public health—institutions that serve as bedrocks of any democracy. Extremists’ exploitation of anti-vaccine sentiments serves to strengthen extremist networks by creating opportunities for further recruitment, radicalization and, in extreme cases, violence targeting healthcare workers and public officials.
Extremists appear poised to exploit concerns about vaccine policies and mask mandates during the 2024 presidential election cycle – and during any surges in COVID-19, flu and respiratory virus cases. Drawing on baseless theories that the COVID-19 pandemic was “planned,” some conspiracy theorists and extremists have alleged that “global elites” and the “Deep State” are conspiring to release a new “plandemic” known as “Disease X” later in 2024, timed to interfere with the presidential election.
Using Anti-Vax Beliefs to Recruit and Mainstream Hate
For many extremists, the COVID-19 pandemic—and relatively quick vaccine rollout—reinforced long-standing fears about government control and efforts to “depopulate” the world, with some tying the vaccines into long-standing conspiracy theories about “white genocide” or a New World Order. They viewed the pandemic and vaccines as tools of manipulation by “global elites,” the government or – in some cases – Jews to strip people of their freedoms and bodily autonomy.
Animated by these grievances and longstanding distrust of the government, mainstream media and “big pharma,” some extremists have attempted to find common ground with anti-vaccine activists and the broader public, exploiting anti-vaccine sentiments to recruit new members and promote antisemitic, racist and Sinophobic conspiracy theories about the virus’s origins and the “true purpose” of vaccines.
Extremists incorporating anti-vax sentiments into propaganda
Since 2020, various white supremacist groups have incorporated anti-vaccine and COVID-19-related messaging into their propaganda.
