Under the Radar: Militias Use New Terminology to Hide in Plain Sight
These emerging names haven’t just impacted the public perception of the movement, they have also affected their online organizing. In August 2020, Facebook—at the time, one of the primary organizing hubs for the militia movement—announced that it was removing militia groups along with QAnon spaces from its platform because of their widespread violent rhetoric and celebration of violent acts that occurred during the George Floyd protests taking place across the U.S. at the time. This move greatly impeded the ability of militia groups to operate online.
The adoption of new terminology allows militias to evade content moderation and create new safe havens on mainstream social media to promote their anti-government ideology, grow their network and translate online activities into real-world action. As a result, these militias have attracted hundreds — and at times thousands — of followers on their accounts.
This access to mainstream social media platforms has allowed militias to gain visibility among mainstream audiences. For example, many of these militias are operating on Instagram, where they interact on posts detailing training exercises and recruitment efforts, often showcasing joint paramilitary training with other militia groups they connect with on the platform.
The Virginia-based Central Virginia Irregulars (CVI) militia—which was founded in 2023 and also calls itself a “mutual assistance group”—exemplifies this trend. In an April 2025 Instagram post, CVI tagged and urged militia groups to connect with potential recruits as they claimed to have received an influx of “group information” requests. The post received comments from at least 10 other militia groups.
Their tagging efforts in the post are part of a broader strategy on the platform to gain the attention of other militia groups both regionally and nationally. This drives engagement on their account and creates a ripple effect where militia groups will endorse each other and further spread their content on mainstream platforms.
New Names
While a number of militia groups continue to call themselves “militia” or use other historical names like “minutemen” and “irregulars,” many of the names of newer, emerging militia groups, such as “mutual assistance groups,” are adopted from the prepper/survivalist community. Historically, there has been a crossover between the militia movement and the survivalist community. By adopting names tied to these communities, militia groups attempt to appear benign, blend into more mainstream currents, and attract potential recruits. New militia groups have opted for many different names, with the most popular self-descriptions including:
· Mutual Assistance Group (MAG)
· Reconnaissance Group
· Contingency Group
· Guerrilla Group
· Civil Training Group
· “Prepared Citizen” Group
· “Volunteer” Group
These new names enable these militia groups to continue their old patterns of conducting organized paramilitary training and promote the same anti-government beliefs that have resulted in violence in the past.
The article is published courtesy of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
