A message left among flowers and tributes by the wall of the Botanic Gardens on March 17 in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Carl Court/Getty Images)Friday’s terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, which killed at least 50 Muslims, was not an isolated event. As far as politics is concerned, the process of polarization in most Western countries has created widespread fears and insecurities. On the far right, recent years have seen a profound shift away from the traditional focus on race toward supposedly more inclusive ideas such as identity and culture. In the case of the Christchurch attacker, this seems to have been the far right’s vast virtual subculture on platforms such as 8Chan, 4Chan, Reddit, Twitter and others.

Source: Washington Post March 19, 2019 11:03 UTC