Especially on social media, an increasing number of people get caught up in echo chambers that operate on ‘alternative facts’ and sees users egging each other on. A phenomenon which can not only be observed abroad, but also in Luxembourg. Our colleague Annick Goerens from RTL.lu spoke with a sociology student who is taking a closer look at this development in the Grand Duchy.
The following quotes were originally written in Luxembourgish:
“Such a statement alone is reason enough to fire this guy! Who are we? A Nazi regime?”
“This guy should be publicly lynched!” – this quote refers to Prime Minister Xavier Bettel.
“We really are in a war, and I have also announced at home that I’m ready to die for the truth. My children are old enough now to understand if that happens.”
“I’m willing to lose everything before I take a single jab or a test, a lot is at stake, but hopefully it will all collapse soon. I take to the streets every day and don’t forget, we are occupied territory, so Nuremberg Code […]”, “Time for fucking war”
All of these quotes derive from messages shared in the Telegram group ‘netgepicktLU’ (“notjabbedLU”). Telegram is a messaging service that functions similarly to WhatsApp, but also allows its users to sign up to groups and chat with strangers. Over the past years, Telegram has developed into a popular platform among right-wing extremists, populists, and conspiracy theorists because the chats cannot be deleted for incitement to hatred or defamation. If statements like the ones above are published publicly on Facebook or Twitter, they are often deleted by the platforms themselves since they can also be reported by other users. In addition, Telegram allows its users to encrypt the content of their chats, which makes the service a useful tool for extremists.
Claude Feltgen studies social sciences, is an active member of the Green Party (Déi Gréng), and has been monitoring the group ‘netgepicktLU’ on Telegram. Feltgen states that for the most part, users share misinformation from abroad, involving personalities like Bill Gates, who is a prominent target of numerous conspiracy theories. However, people also regularly share “badly interpreted statistics”, which are often used as confirmation of the group’s beliefs. According to Feltgen, there is a substantial tendency among users to egg each other on. All of this is interspersed with “problematic, violent” messages. They are generally never rejected and left unchallenged, Feltgen explains.
Conspiracy theories and the distribution of ‘alternative’ facts and truths is a phenomenon that particularly gains popularity in times of crisis. According to Feltgen, the basis of all conspiracy theories is that those interested in them see themselves as “a victim of the evil elites”. Followers usually talk themselves into believing into their chosen conspiracy theory more and more and interpret everything around them in a way so that it fits into their view of the situation. One thing that particularly worries Feltgen is the frequent use of “war rhetoric”.
Upon seeing certain statements, for instance the message calling for the Prime Minister to be lynched or someone demanding that terror methods should be used, Feltgen filed complaints with the police. However, Feltgen found that the officers he was dealing with did not seem to take the content serious at first. The sociology student explains that in the initial response he got, the person replying stated that they could not see what part of these messages was supposed to be a conspiracy theory since, in their eyes, it was completely fine to raise questions regarding the vaccination.
After Feltgen published the response on Twitter, he received another message from the police, which acknowledged that the first e-mail was “unfortunate” and assured him that the police is taking these statements seriously.
Nevertheless, Feltgen thinks that the problem of social media radicalisation is still being neglected in Luxembourg. According to the sociology student, the authorities ignored the issue “from the beginning” and allowed a radical bubble to form and expand. Feltgen states that while he is not saying that every one of the 4,000 participants of the latest ‘Marche Blanche’ thinks in exactly the same way as the authors of these appalling messages, he does think that Luxembourg must deal with the fact that there is now a sizeable group of people thinking in similar ways.
The technical term for this phenomenon is ‘messengerisation’, i.e. a situation when the political discourse largely takes place in closed messenger groups on WhatsApp, Telegram, or similar services. A phenomenon, which is sure to occupy the minds of politicians for the upcoming years.
