Extremist content is frequently coded–-both to escape moderation and to signal to others with similar ideologies. In many cases, the nature of this content is far from explicit, couched in humour or sarcasm that avoids direct violation of platform policy.
These challenges are exacerbated by the increasing proliferation of non-text content formats where existing moderation tactics may not be as effective—including music.
Consider the far-right musical and aesthetic genre Fashwave, a portmanteau of ‘fascism’ and ‘wave’ first widely reported on in 2016. Recent research, conducted in part for GIFCT, found that Fashwave songs and images continue to appear online.
Fashwave: Extremist Audio Formats Present Complex Challenges – GNET (gnet-research.org)
