Radicalization of the far right in the era of data, algorithms, and digital platforms

Abstract

This article analyzes the reconfiguration and radicalization of contemporary right-wing politics in the digital era, drawing on a theoretical approach and a critical review of recent literature on the far right, digital platforms, and politics. It starts from the argument that the convergence of neoliberal globalization, ultra-accelerated technological change, and the digitization/platformization of social life creates structural conditions that favor processes of radicalization, affective mobilization, and the normalization of authoritarianism in the public sphere. The argument is developed in critical dialogue with the literature on the attention economy, algorithms, digital culture, and the far right, linking these debates to an interpretation of recent transformations in forms of political action mediated by platforms. In this context, the far right operates less through classical party structures and more through flexible networks, diffuse leaderships, and the transnational circulation of discursive and symbolic repertoires. It concludes that, as an effect of these processes of radicalization and the diffusion of political extremism in online environments, “digital fascism” should be understood in connection with a political-communicational ecosystem that articulates action on digital platforms, regimes of visibility and engagement, and the intensification of modes of agitation and propaganda across networks. The implications of this diagnosis point to the limits of responses centered solely on content moderation, which often produce counterproductive effects by deepening processes of radicalization.