Research & Analysis

ADL’s annual assessment found white supremacist events more than doubled year-over-year White supremacist propaganda, which allows extremist groups to disseminate hateful messages and gain attention with little risk of public exposure, has been on the rise for several years. In 2021, the overall numbers were down slightly, but paired with a 27 percent increase in antisemitic content and messaging. Since 2017, the ADL Center on Extremism has closely tracked white supremacist…

Every year people with ties to a variety of extreme movements and causes kill people in the United States; the ADL Center on Extremism tracks these murders. Extremists regularly commit murders in the service of their ideology, in the service of a group or gang they may belong to, or while engaging in traditional, non-ideological criminal activities. In 2021, domestic extremists killed at least 29 people in the United States, in 19 separate incidents. This represents a modest increase from…

Full Report The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) is an anti-government extremist group whose primary purpose is to recruit sheriffs into the anti-government “patriot” movement. CSPOA is led by Richard Mack, a former Arizona sheriff who gained celebrity on the right in the 1990s after suing to overturn a prominent gun control measure, the Brady Law, especially after the Supreme Court ruled largely in his favor. The central tenet of CSPOA, borrowed…

If there is a single thread that links QAnon’s origins, its current state, and where the conspiracy theory is likely to go in the short- to medium-term, it’s antisemitism. QAnon’s antisemitism has been most visible at two points: its beginnings – when it emerged from the swastika-studded fever swamp that is 4chan – and the present, when the most popular QAnon influencer, GhostEzra, is an open Nazi who praises Hitler, admires the Third Reich, and decries the…

Ninety-seven million Americans play online multiplayer games. While virtually all players surveyed in ADL’s third annual report on experiences1 in online games appreciated the social connectivity of gaming, an alarmingly large majority continue to encounter a firehose of hate and harassment. ADL’s survey explores the social interactions, experiences, attitudes, and behaviors of online multiplayer gamers nationwide. This year’s survey again asked about the experiences of a…

In the days following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America, conspiracy theorists across the ideological spectrum dismissed the widely accepted version of events and instead crafted alternative narratives about the perpetrators, their motive, and other details about the attacks. Some of these conspiratorial claims directly implicated Jewish people and Israel in the attacks, in a continuation of centuries-old antisemitic tropes about Jews supposedly manipulating world events for their own…

A number of extremist and hate groups are currently registered as tax-exempt organizations with theIRSand many of these groups appear to be abusing their tax-exempt status.

On January 6, 2021, hundreds of fanatic Trump supporters and right-wing extremists intent on interfering with the confirmation of the 2020 presidential election results stormed the U.S. Capitol, where they fought police and destroyed property until finally evicted hours later.  The events of that day shocked the country, but the riot’s aftermath also surprised many Americans as the subsequent arrests of rioters included a number of people with connections to the U.S. military…

 A wide range of extremist ideologies have gained visibility and notoriety in recent years. And a number of violent extremist groups and leaders – including white supremacists and anti-government extremists – are explicit about their desire to recruit current and former law enforcement personnel. The fact that at least five of those arrested for storming the Capitol building on January 6 were active law enforcement officers raises serious concerns and underscores the fact…

Propaganda from groups such as Patriot Front, New Jersey European Heritage Association, Folks Front, and the Nationalist Social Club ADL’s Center on Extremism (COE) tracked a near-doubling of white supremacist propaganda efforts in 2020, which included the distribution of racist, antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ fliers, stickers, banners and posters. The 2020 data shows a huge increase of incidents from the previous year, with a total of 5,125 cases reported (averaging more than 14…

DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT David Andrew Weinberg is ADL’s Washington Director for International Affairs. He also serves as the organization’s lead analyst on state-enabled antisemitic incitement in the Middle East, for instance authoring previous monographs assessing school textbooks printed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as by private schools in Lebanon aligned with Hezbollah. Prior to joining ADL, Dr. Weinberg served as a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of…

Every year people with ties to a variety of extremist movements and causes kill people in the United States; ADL’s Center on Extremism tracks these murders. Extremists regularly commit murders in the service of their ideology, in the service of a group or gang they may belong to, or while engaging in traditional, non-ideological criminal activities. In 2020, domestic extremists killed at least 17 people in the United States, in 15 separate incidents. This represents a significant…

Authors: Annie Y. Chen, Dartmouth College | Brendan Nyhan, Dartmouth College | Jason Reifler, University of Exeter | Ronald E. Robertson, Northeastern University | Christo Wilson, Northeastern University   The Belfer Fellowship was established by the Robert Belfer Family to support innovative research and thought-leadership on combating online hate and harassment for all. Fellows are drawn from the technologist community, academia, and public policy to push innovation, research…

They were ordinary people who lived extraordinary lives – or extraordinary people who put their lives on the line to protect the health and welfare of everyone. In what has become an annual tradition, as the year comes to a close ADL pauses each December to take stock of the moments and people who shaped the last 12 months – for better, or for worse – with a Top 10 list. For 2020, we compiled two Top 10 lists: One looking back on the moments of hurt and hate that…

Video games have been popular in the United States for at least three decades, but the lockdowns and quarantines brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic kicked their growth as vital social spaces into overdrive.1 [i] Over 200 million people, 64 percent of American adults, regularly play video games- which include both online and offline games.[ii] A $159 billion industry, annual revenue from video games increased 9.3 percent this year, whereas revenue reported by traditional media such as movies…

By Mark Kumleben and Samuel Woolley  Propaganda Research Team Center for Media Engagement University of Texas at Austin Maggie Engler Global Disinformation Index Much of online speech today occurs on social media platforms like Facebook where a few companies have attained an outsized influence on what is permitted discussion on the internet. The rules and enforcement of the rules around speech on social platforms have far-reaching societal implications -- they can determine…

The May 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer sparked nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism. As the demonstrations spread to communities across the country, so too did disinformation about the protests and protesters. In a time of national unrest and racial tension, these false claims intentionally sowed fear and division, while also undermining protesters’ efforts to build coalitions and bring about lasting structural change. …

Despite the extensive attention already paid to intolerant textbooks and other educational materials in many Middle Eastern countries, comparatively little analysis has been conducted on the ideological materials used to indoctrinate children in schools linked to the notorious terrorist organization Hezbollah. This report seeks to address that important gap, documenting the systematic and egregious incitement to antisemitism and support for terrorism that is propagated in numerous such…