Hijacking MeToo: transnational dynamics and networked frame contestation on the far right in the case of the ‘120 decibels' campaign

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a case study of a digitally enabled mode of transnationally networked framing by far-right actors. We analyze the reach and strategic aims of the ‘120 decibels’ campaign, launched by members of the Austrian Identitarian Movement via social media in early 2018 in an attempt to latch onto the prominence of the MeToo hashtag (#MeToo). We argue that this constituted a form of discursive ‘hijacking,’ marked by a narrowing of the scope of the problem definition and a reformulation of the political demands. We draw on user-generated Twitter data and focus on geolocation markers and language clusters in order to investigate the transnational scope of these coordinated efforts. We employ content analysis to investigate the campaign’s strategic use of #MeToo. Our findings show distinct clusters of German-Austrian – and UK-US-based user groups, from which we infer directionalities in the transnational spread of the campaign. We demonstrate how the initial dissemination of the hashtag was driven by influential individual nodes within their respective networks and tied to #MeToo. The results point toward transnational networking activities among the far right and illustrate emerging dynamics between progressive and reactionary forms of digitally enabled networked framing.

KEYWORDS:

• Transnational networks
• far-right politics
• hijacking campaign
• networked framing
• connective action

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The campaign’s name is derived from the noise frequency of an alarm device used to alert bystanders or call for help when encountering a threatening situation.

2 Available at: https://www.120-db.info/ (Accessed: 20 August 2018).

3 Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GaAMQVJF5s (Accessed: 20 August 2018).

4 As De Cleen et al. (2019) demonstrated, such tensions between nationalist policies and transnational coalition building are not limited to the far right but also affect political movements on the populist left.

5 See Appendix I for further descriptions and examples of each category.

6 Coding was independently conducted by one of the authors and a research assistant. The initial round resulted in 91.4% agreement and a Krippendorff alpha coefficient of .77. Another research assistant who had not been in contact with the data before then coded the instances of disagreement. All remaining discrepancies were discussed and collectively settled or coded as “other.”

7 “RT @lucyfrown: Finally, a female movement I can get behind! #120db is the real #metoo / #timesup https://t.co/jfIDLvSlUY”

8 “RT @TRobinsonNewEra: German Women Speak Up Against Migrants Violence, Abuse and Terrorism. #120db is the true #metoo https://t.co/UOkV67Qp … ”

Additional information

Funding

This work has been funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany (BMBF) under grant no. 16DII111 (“Deutsches Internet-Institut”).

Notes on contributors

Curd Knüpfer

Curd Knüpfer is Assistant Professor of Political Science with a focus on Political Communication at the John F. Kennedy Institute at the Freie Universität Berlin.

Matthias Hoffmann

Matthias Hoffmann is a postdoctoral researcher in the research group “Digitalisation and the Transnational Public Sphere” at the Weizenbaum Institute and the Freie Universität Berlin.

Vadim Voskresenskii

Vadim Voskresenskii is a doctoral researcher in the research group “Digitalisation and the Transnational Public Sphere” at the Weizenbaum Institute and the Freie Universität Berlin.