Online retailers give extremist groups chance to continue vibrant internet life
ATLANTA — Social networks are banning them and government agencies and watchdog groups have called them domestic terrorists. But extremist groups still have a vibrant internet life thanks to online retailers.
Looking for a book evangelizing the baseless and far- out QAnon conspiracy theory? Amazon has a variety of titles.
How about a T-shirt with the Three Percenters militia logo? Custom shirt company TeeSpring has many styles and colors. EBay and Etsy can provide shirts, hats and stickers bearing the slogan “ACAB,” short for “All Cops Are Bastards,” popular with far-left anarchist groups. The list goes on.
In recent months, some online retailers have said they are cracking down on items associated with groups or ideologies that advocate violence, but those are piecemeal efforts, at best. And the third-party sellers that make up a large part of those online markets are adept at skirting the rules.
The Atlanta JournalConstitution found dozens of examples of extremist merchandise available for sale on major retail sites, some of which disappeared when the
AJC asked about it. The AJC also found that thirdparty sellers on those sites can evade scrutiny by avoiding words that might get them banned.
More than providing a source of income, the swag carries a message to consumers, said Megan Squire, a computer science professor at Elon Collegewho uses data analysis to track far-right extremist groups.
“It spreads the ideology and it’s a signal that you are in the group,” she said. “It makes you feel like you are really in it.
You’ve got the flag, you’ve got the shirt.”
That’s important to fringe groups, according to Hampton Stall, an Atlanta-based militia watchdog. Having a branded shirt or hat or other gear helps create community, which Stall said was very important for extremist groups like militias that recruit “highly alienated individuals.”
“Some militias really commit to merchandising,” he said. So much so that some groups have fought over rights to the Three Percenter logo, he said.
One of the more pervasive fringe ideologies found on internet marketplaces is QAnon, the weblike conspiracy theory that believes President Donald Trump is fighting a secret, satanic cabal of politicians and celebrities for control of the world. QAnon, which emerged online in 2017, spread quickly through the national consciousness this year, and sellers swooped in with T- shirts, hats, coffee mugs and books to feed the frenzy.
Amazon has been a prime market for these goods, despite the ideology’s history of inciting violence and warnings from the FBI that it poses a continuing domestic terror threat.
Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have made efforts to remove QAnon accounts after years of allowing the ideology to spread on their platforms. Amazon declined to comment on why it continues to sell QAnon items, but that’s hardly the only extremist group represented on the retail giant’s website.
Squire said deciding which fringe group items do or do not violate an online retailer’s terms of service can be difficult. But she said Amazon’s problem is magnified by the recommendations feature on the site.