18 Mar 2019
Christchurch terrorist suspect Brenton Tarrant’s manifesto refers to ‘Accelerationist’ ideas – something widely echoed on 8chan, where he posted his vile tract.But what is accelerationism? The word is used in various different ways – at first referring to the idea that capitalism and technology should be ‘speeded up’ to bring about social change. Authors such as Nick Land have become popular among online right-wing groups, envisioning a future where governments break down amid technological change.
Some have hailed the election of Donald Trump as an example of accelerationist politics – offering fast, breakneck change at any price.
But the term is also used by online extremists to refer to the breakdown of society as a whole – or movement towards a race war, the Southern Poverty Law Center says.
Right-wing groups such as the neo-Nazi forum Iron March espoused the idea of accelerationism, while advocating the mass murder of Jews and non-whites.
Several extremist groups are inspired by Siege, a compilation of the writings of American neo-Nazi James Mason.
The book, a compilation of newsletters from the 80s, pushed accelerationist ideas, as well as admiration of Charles Manson and Adolf Hitler.
Mason advised his followers to take leaderless action, rather than forming hierarchical groups.
The ideas were echoed in Tarrant’s manifesto.
In his manifesto, Tarrant wrote, ‘Stability and comfort are the enemies of revolutionary change.
‘Therefore we must destabilize and discomfort society where ever possible.’
The views are widely echoed on online messaging site 8chan, where Tarrant posted links to a manifesto on the messaging site 8chan early last Friday before the attack.
In the wake of the attack, he was hailed as an ‘accelerationist’ for helping to ignite a race war, as members of the forums hoped for further terror attacks.
8chan and other similar sites have been the subject of continued controversy in recent years as extremists flocked to the platforms for their lack of regulations, leading to praise for US school shootings and terrorist attacks, as well as discussion of conspiracy theories, racist memes, harassment campaigns, co-ordinated hacking and images of child sexual abuse.
More than 12 hours after the shooting in Christchurch, hundreds of 8chan users had commented in a ‘mega thread’ about the massacre, started by someone who posted Tarrant’s video, a list of ‘highlights’, a swastika and picture of alt-right icon Pepe the Frog.
The owners of 8chan did not respond to requests for comment.
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Originally Posted by Andrew Ryan
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