Chuck Darwin<p>How did the far right win in Austria? To understand, look to its global networks </p><p>"We will kick upwards and clamp down on those who don’t mean well for us”, said <a href="https://c.im/tags/Herbert" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Herbert</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Kickl" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Kickl</span></a> in May 2023. </p><p>Under Kickl’s leadership, the Austrian Freedom party ( <a href="https://c.im/tags/FP%C3%96" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FPÖ</span></a> ) has scored its biggest election victory since it was founded in 1956 by <a href="https://c.im/tags/Anton" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Anton</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Reinthaller" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Reinthaller</span></a>, an Austrian Nazi who had served as a lieutenant general in the SS. </p><p>Not only is the FPÖ now more popular than ever, it is also at the height of its radicalism.</p><p>The FPÖ’s victory in Sunday’s national elections is being celebrated by far-right movements and influencers across Europe. <br>No wonder: it demonstrates how successful they have been at normalising and internationalising their extreme ideologies, conspiracy myths and policy proposals.</p><p>Many of the FPÖ’s ideas have been inspired by <a href="https://c.im/tags/Generation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Generation</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Identity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Identity</span></a>, a pan-European white nativist movement that has its roots in France and is particularly strong in Austria. </p><p>In a post-election livestream to his followers, the movement’s Austrian leader, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Martin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Martin</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Sellner" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Sellner</span></a>, celebrated the FPÖ win as “a dream result” . </p><p>He has been one of the most influential proponents of the term “<a href="https://c.im/tags/remigration" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>remigration</span></a>” (the policy of mass deportation of people with a migration background), <br>which had its first spike on social media following a 2014 extreme-right meet-up in France.</p><p>Ten years later, the FPÖ is far from the only far-right political party that has embraced the concept. <br>Germany’s <a href="https://c.im/tags/AfD" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AfD</span></a> party used “remigration” as part of its campaigns for regional elections in Saxony and Thuringia on 1 September, <br>-- and <a href="https://c.im/tags/Donald" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Donald</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Trump</span></a> recently called for “remigration” in a post about “illegal migrants” on X. </p><p>Even though Sellner communicated with and received a donation from the @Christchurch <a href="https://c.im/tags/shooter" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>shooter</span></a> who later killed 51 people in two consecutive mosque attacks in New Zealand in 2019, <br>Kickl has since described the identitarian movement as “a project worthy of support”, which should be viewed as an “NGO from the right”.</p><p>A year before the Christchurch attack, Sellner wrote to me in a direct message on Twitter: <br>“I don’t think that my videos and speeches incite violence. The anger is there in any case and I think it has its material basis.”</p><p><a href="https://c.im/tags/Immigration" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Immigration</span></a> is only one of the FPÖ’s controversial campaign topics. <br><a href="https://c.im/tags/Covid" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Covid</span></a> conspiracy myths, <br><a href="https://c.im/tags/climate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>climate</span></a> change denial, <br><a href="https://c.im/tags/anti" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>anti</span></a>-<a href="https://c.im/tags/feminism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>feminism</span></a> and <br><a href="https://c.im/tags/anti" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>anti</span></a>-<a href="https://c.im/tags/LGBTQ" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LGBTQ</span></a>+ discourse are other features of the party’s branding. </p><p>The FPÖ member of parliament <a href="https://c.im/tags/Michael" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Michael</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Gruber" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Gruber</span></a> recently shared an election campaign video on Instagram that showed him throwing a rainbow flag in a bin with the tagline “Cleaning up for Austria”.</p><p>With Kickl using dog whistles such as “climate communism” and “WHO dictatorship”, <br>the FPÖ has been able to expand its support base among conspiracy theorists and Covid deniers. </p><p>What does Kickl mean by kicking upwards, for example? <br>He promised to become an FPÖ chancellor “who won’t bow down to the EU, Nato and the WHO”. </p><p>In a new year’s speech he spoke ofhis long “wanted list”, which includes centrist politicians whom he refers to as “politicians of the system” (<a href="https://c.im/tags/Systempolitiker" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Systempolitiker</span></a> ) and whom he accuses of “treason against the people” (<a href="https://c.im/tags/Volksverrat" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Volksverrat</span></a> ) – two terms known for their use by <a href="https://c.im/tags/Adolf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Adolf</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Hitler" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Hitler</span></a>.</p><p>A key to FPÖ’s success has been the growing landscape of alternative, hyper-biased and conspiratorial news outlets that have formed around the party and its sympathisers.</p><p> In the run-up to the election, a series of false claims spread in a chain reaction across these alternative media websites and social media channels such as Telegram. <br>Reports, for example, were circulated claiming that the “deep state” wanted to steal the FPÖ’s victory <br>or that centrist parties were planning to reintroduce mandatory vaccinations after the elections. </p><p><a href="https://c.im/tags/AUF1" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AUF1</span></a>, a particularly influential new rightwing channel, has aired ideas of “vaccine mass extermination” and a “deadly transhumanist agenda”. </p><p>The channel was the first outlet to feature an appearance by Kickl on Sunday night after the election victory.</p><p>The FPÖ’s historic victory not only poses a risk to Austria’s minorities, independent media outlets, scientific community and democratic institutions, <br>-- it also has the potential to significantly strengthen the far right in Europe and internationally. </p><p><a href="https://c.im/tags/Alice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Alice</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Weidel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Weidel</span></a> of the German AfD, <br><a href="https://c.im/tags/Marine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Marine</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Le" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Le</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Pen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Pen</span></a> of the French National Rally <br>and <a href="https://c.im/tags/Geert" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Geert</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Wilders" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Wilders</span></a> of the Dutch Freedom party <br>all enthusiastically congratulated the FPÖ. <br>“The Netherlands, Hungary, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, France, Spain, Czech Republic and today Austria! We are winning! Times are changing,” commented Wilders on X.</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/30/austria-far-right-win-global-election-freedom-party?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">theguardian.com/commentisfree/</span><span class="invisible">2024/sep/30/austria-far-right-win-global-election-freedom-party?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other</span></a></p>