It's Going Down (collective)

Last updated
It's Going Down
Formation2015;6 years ago (2015)
TypeMedia collective
Website itsgoingdown.org

It's Going Down is a media collective for anarchist and anti-fascist action in the United States that publishes news and opinion. The collective publishes news and analysis, producing investigative work on neo-Nazi and white supremacist networks as well as reports on social struggles.

Contents

Contents

It's Going Down publishes both news and opinion. The website launched in 2015 and organizes a wide variety of content, ranging from interviews to best practices manuals for anarchist organizations to doxxing of operators behind fake antifa social media accounts. The website reported that it was averaging 20–30 thousand visitors a day as of mid-2017, with over 2 million total site views in August 2017. [1] This indicates a significant increase from 2015, at which point it received an average of 300 daily page views. The website experienced a major spike in readership following Donald Trump's presidential election in 2016. [2]

It's Going Down has tracked the links between individuals such as Joey Gibson with white supremacist organizations and activists, reported on the monitoring of an anti-child separation group by the FBI, explored the role of anti-activist informants in the United States and exposed alt-right trolls operating fake antifa social media accounts. Their work has been referenced in outlets such as Bellingcat, BuzzFeed News and The Intercept . [3] [4] [5] [6] It has at times been the first to break coverage on events on the far-right. [7] Other times, it has been the only media source outside right-wing media to cover events. [4]

History

In September 2017, Peter Beinart quoted It's Going Down as stating that "[s]uddenly, anarchists and antifa, who have been demonized and sidelined by the wider Left have been hearing from liberals and Leftists, 'you've been right all along.'" [8]

In August 2020, Facebook expanded its "Dangerous Individuals and Organisations policy", removing It's Going Down alongside over 800 QAnon, far-right militia, anti-racist and anti-capitalist groups. It's Going Down and Crimethinc., another left-wing and anarchist publishing platform that dates back to the 1990s, released a joint statement against the bans. This announcement followed a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on "stopping anarchist violence" led by Ted Cruz which mentioned It's Going Down among other media collectives. [9]

Fox News has included coverage on It's Going Down, often critically. In June 2017, Jesse Watters interviewed an individual who claimed to be the leader of "Antifa". The segment started with Watters reading from "An Open Letter To Liberals & Progressives From The Black Bloc", an editorial on the site. Kevin, the interviewee, claimed to have written the article. The interviewee later made clear that the appearance had been a prank and that he had no association with either It's Going Down or any black bloc group. It's Going Down denied that the article had been written by Kevin prior to his admission and the website reported that it received dozens of death threats following the coverage on Watters' World. Donald Trump may have watched the show and Eric Trump shared a clip from it. The website reported similar death threats after Tucker Carlson interviewed Ian Miles Cheong about antifa. [10]

Related Research Articles

Anti-fascism Opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals

Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were opposed by many countries forming the Allies of World War II and dozens of resistance movements worldwide. Anti-fascism has been an element of movements across the political spectrum and holding many different political positions such as anarchism, communism, pacifism, republicanism, social democracy, socialism and syndicalism as well as centrist, conservative, liberal and nationalist viewpoints.

Internet Research Agency Russian company engaged in online influence operations

The Internet Research Agency, also known as Glavset and known in Russian Internet slang as the Trolls from Olgino, is a Russian company engaged in online influence operations on behalf of Russian business and political interests. It is linked to Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin and based in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

/pol/, short for "politically incorrect", is a political discussion board on 4chan. The board has been noted for its racist, white supremacist, antisemitic, misogynistic, and transphobic content.

Pepe the Frog Humanoid frog drawing turned meme

Pepe the Frog is a politicized Internet meme consisting of a green anthropomorphic frog with a humanoid body. Pepe originated in a 2005 comic by Matt Furie called Boy's Club. It became an Internet meme when its popularity steadily grew across Myspace, Gaia Online and 4chan in 2008. By 2015, it had become one of the most popular memes used on 4chan and Tumblr. Different types of Pepe include "Sad Frog", "Smug Frog", "Angry Pepe", "Feels Frog", and "You will never..." Frog. Since 2014, "Rare Pepes" have been posted on the "meme market" as if they were trading cards.

Fake news websites are Internet websites that deliberately publish fake news—hoaxes, propaganda, and disinformation purporting to be real news—often using social media to drive web traffic and amplify their effect. Unlike news satire, fake news websites deliberately seek to be perceived as legitimate and taken at face value, often for financial or political gain. Such sites have promoted political falsehoods in India, Germany, Indonesia and the Philippines, Sweden, Mexico, Myanmar, and the United States. Many sites originate in, or are promoted by, Russia, North Macedonia, Romania, and the United States.

Fake news False or misleading information presented as news

Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. It often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue. However, the term does not have a fixed definition, and has been applied more broadly to include any type of false information, including unintentional and unconscious mechanisms, and also by high-profile individuals to apply to any news unfavourable to his/her personal perspectives.

The Gateway Pundit (TGP) is an American far-right fake news website. The website is known for publishing falsehoods, hoaxes, and conspiracy theories.

Rania Khalek Journalist, writer, and political commentator

Rania Khalek is a Lebanese American writer and political activist. She has written for politically progressive/left wing publications, including The Nation, The Intercept, Al Jazeera, Salon, Vice, AlterNet, Mondoweiss, and Truthout. In 2017 she co-hosted the podcast show Unauthorized Disclosure with Kevin Gosztola at Shadowproof. Khalek previously served as an associate editor for the pro-Palestinian website The Electronic Intifada.

Benny Johnson (columnist) American political columnist (born 1987)

Beneful "Benny" Johnson is an American political columnist, currently serving as chief creative officer at conservative organization Turning Point USA. Johnson first rose to prominence as an editor at BuzzFeed, until it was revealed that many of his published articles were plagiarized and he was fired.

Identity Evropa Neo-Nazi group in the United States

Identity Evropa, rebranded as American Identity Movement in March 2019, was an American neo-Nazi and white supremacist extremist organization established in March 2016. The group is identified as a white supremacist organization by the Anti-Defamation League and is designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group. In November 2020, the group disbanded.

Mike Enoch American white supremacist blogger and podcast host

Michael Isaac Peinovich, commonly known by his pseudonym Mike Enoch, is an American neo-Nazi, anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist, Holocaust denier, blogger, and podcast host. He founded the alt-right media network The Right Stuff and podcast The Daily Shoah. Through his work, Peinovich ridicules African Americans, Jews, and other minorities, advocates racial discrimination, and promotes conspiracy theories such as Holocaust denial and white genocide.

Clint Watts

Clinton Watts is a senior fellow at the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University and a Foreign Policy Research Institute fellow. He previously was an infantry officer in the United States Army, and was the Executive Officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at United States Military Academy at West Point (CTC). He became a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation where he served on the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). He has consulted for the FBI Counterterrorism Division (CTD) and FBI National Security Branch (NSB).

Jack Posobiec American commentator and conspiracy theorist

John Michael Posobiec III is an American alt-right and alt-lite political activist, television correspondent and presenter, conspiracy theorist, and Internet troll. Posobiec is best known for his pro-Donald Trump comments on Twitter, as well as using white supremacist and antisemitic symbols and talking points, including the white genocide conspiracy theory. He has promoted fake news, including the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory claiming high-ranking Democratic Party officials were involved in a child sex ring. From 2018 to 2021, Posobiec was employed by One America News Network (OANN), a far-right cable news television channel, as a political correspondent and on-air presenter. He left OANN in May 2021 to begin hosting a show for the conservative student organization Turning Point USA, and to join Human Events as a senior editor.

Baked Alaska (activist) American alt-right personality

Anthime Joseph "Tim" Gionet, more commonly known as Baked Alaska, is an American neo-Nazi, anti-semitic conspiracy theorist, social media personality and former rapper. Gionet gained attention through his advocacy on behalf of alt-right and white supremacist ideology, and through his promotion of anti-Jewish conspiracy theories such as white genocide and Jewish control of the media. He has also used the alias Tim Treadstone.

Antifa (United States) Anti-fascist political activist movement

Antifa is a left-wing, anti-fascist and anti-racist political movement in the United States. It is highly decentralized and comprises an array of autonomous groups that aim to achieve their objectives through the use of both nonviolent and violent direct action rather than through policy reform. Much of antifa political activism is nonviolent, involving poster and flyer campaigns, mutual aid, delivering speeches, marching in protest, and community organizing. They also engage in protest tactics, seeking to combat fascists and racists such as neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other far-right extremists, and differing from other leftist opposition movements by their willingness to directly confront far-right activists, and in some cases, law enforcement. This sometimes involves digital activism, doxing, harassment, violence, and property damage against those they identify as belonging to the far right.

Torch Network

The Torch Network (TN), also known as the Torch Antifa Network, is a decentralised network of far-left political actors in the United States and Canada. TN is a continuation of the older Anti-Racist Action Network (ARA), founded during the 1980s and renamed in 2013. Most members associated with Torch Antifa adhere to anarchism, but also some Trotskyism and Maoism.

Refuse Fascism is a U.S.-based anti-fascist coalition organization, co-initiated by Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. Until the 2020 United States presidential election, it was characterized by its call for the removal of the Trump administration by nonviolent street protests. Since the election, it has counter-demonstrated at a series of pro-Trump events.

Andy Ngo American journalist

Andy Cuong Ngo is an American conservative journalist, author, and social media personality known for covering and video-recording demonstrators. He is the editor-at-large of The Post Millennial, a Canadian conservative news website. Ngo is a regular guest on Fox News and has published columns in outlets such The Wall Street Journal and The Spectator.

The Post Millennial is a conservative Canadian online news magazine started in 2017. It publishes national and local news and has a large amount of opinion content. It has been criticized for publishing COVID-19 disinformation and for its opaque funding and political connections.

GypsyCrusader American political commentator and streamer (born 1988)

Paul Nicholas Miller, better known by his online alias GypsyCrusader, is an American far-right political commentator, streamer, white supremacist, accelerationist, and former Muay Thai fighter, trainer, and coach. He is best known for his livestreams on various media services that feature him cosplaying as an array of different characters including the Joker, the Riddler, Mario, and others while he tells his political beliefs to strangers on Omegle. He is known for his advocacy of genocides, advocacy for a race war, and espousing white supremacy and neo-Nazism. He has been tied to multiple alt-right and far-right organizations, including the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo movement.

References

  1. Montgomery, Blake (7 September 2017). "Here's A Guide To The Antifa Network That's Trying To Solidify A Nazi-Punching Movement". BuzzFeed News .
  2. Cammeron, Brenna (14 August 2017). "Antifa: Left-wing militants on the rise". BBC News.
  3. Evans, Robert (17 August 2018). "Fascist Activists Have Spent The Last Year Trying to Win Over Police". Bellingcat .
  4. 1 2 Klippenstein, Ken (11 November 2019). "The U.S. Military Is Monitoring Interfaith Group Opposed to Child Separation, Leaked Document Reveals". The Intercept.
  5. Brown, Alleen; Knefel, John (1 September 2018). "The FBI Tried to Use the #MeToo Moment to Pressure an Environmental Activist Into Becoming an Informant". The Intercept.
  6. Montgomery, Blake (27 September 2017). "Was This Banned Fake Antifa Twitter Account Actually Troll Tweeting From Russia?". BuzzFeed News .
  7. Palma, Bethania (21 February 2020). "Who Is Kaitlin Bennett, And Why Did Her 'Liberty Hangout' Promote Holocaust Denial?". Snopes.
  8. Beinart, Peter (6 September 2017). "The Rise of the Violent Left". The Atlantic. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  9. Lennard, Natasha (20 August 2020). "Facebook's Ban on Far-Left Pages Is an Extension of Trump Propaganda". The Intercept .
  10. Montgomery, Blake (18 July 2017). "A Fake Antifa Member Trolled A Fox News Host, And The President May Have Watched It". BuzzFeed News.