Breaking down the symbology of hate
In the digital age, icons and images have become an effective messaging tool — for good and bad
‘‘ Having a symbol that is used for multiple things … gives anyone in the movement plausible deniability.
DAN COLLEN HATEPEDIA.CA
For white nationalist groups, iconography is a critical means of communication. In many respects, a single symbol — from the swastika of Nazi Germany to the letters “A” and “C” — can express purpose, motivation and meaning more effectively than an essay.
Those who study the bewildering array of symbols, phrases, internet memes used by white nationalists say they are also a way to express themselves in public while also providing cover to deny their true intentions.
“Symbols are incredibly impor- tant from the get-go because having a symbol that is used for multiple things, while being used for one specific thing, gives anyone in the movement plausible deniability,” said Dan Collen, extremist re- searcher and co-founder of Hate- pedia.ca, an online educational ar- chive of hate symbols used in Cana- da.
Take the Celtic cross for instance, Collen said. The cross laid over a circle — used in March on a flag by Hamilton neo-Nazis during a ban- ner wave over the Red Hill Valley Parkway — is a very common icon used in white nationalist circles. But unlike the Nazi swastika, it has other uses and meanings.
“The Celtic cross is also used by many non-hateful movements,” Collen said. “It is still used in many churches and as a symbol of Irish Catholic pride.”
Online, where white nationalists are building overlapping networks of followers, iconography is a short- hand vector to quickly spread their message.
“In past generations, a hate group had to go through a strenuous pro- cess of printing and design process, and images had to be sent out in a specific way,” Collen said.
“The digital era makes that much easier because sharing images on social media is just that much easier.”
Images, whether they are icons or memes — akin to single panel cartoons of past generations — are also harder to moderate than text posts, which allows the propaganda to live longer on social media and potentially reach more people.
Hatepedia was launched to provide the public with access to the way hate symbols and messages are used in Canada similar to the database published by the American Anti-Defamation League so the Canadian public will understand what those symbols are when they encounter them.
In March, the website published an analysis of hate memes used across an array of platforms to help users understand what they might be looking at in their social media feeds. The report can be found at the Hatepedia website.