| dc.description.abstract | The circulation of false information online, whether intentional or unintentional, has become one of the most pressing threats to social cohesion and security for governments around the world. The U.S. insurrection on January 6th, 2021 was a striking example of how polarising and inflammatory rhetoric posted on social media platforms can influence offline movements and connect to real-world violence. It also highlighted the negative effects of meme culture, post-truth and free speech ideology within right-wing groups in the U.S. and beyond. Looking at this event as a main case study and considering the ramifications more than two years on, this paper broadly aims to unpack the forces, influences and affordances of so-called free speech platforms that contributed to the insurrection through a thorough literature review. More specifically, I identify how and why the rise of meme sharing on the platform Gab has helped generate right-wing identity, shape attitudes towards the mainstream media and increase the proliferation of false narratives and culture wars. Through a social semiotic multimodal analysis, this thesis contributes to existing scholarship by assessing the ideological role of memes posted on Gab in the two years since the Capitol attack. The findings indicate that blatant falsehoods are reinforced and masked by appeals to humour, emotion, values and beliefs within right-wing communities. It also reveals that the concept of free speech is being instrumentalised to attack public institutions. | |
