On YouTube, Instagram, Gettr or Twitter, the radicalization of far-right influencers

“Democracy works on the presumed stupidity of the masses, by definition a manipulable beast. » At the end of June, on YouTube, Papacito displays all his disappointment. The far-right YouTuber – a qualifier he rejects – believed for a moment in Eric Zemmour’s victory in the presidential election, because of his ” tremendous energy”. Since the defeat, he advises his community to withdraw from the world. The emergency, fleeing the big cities, these “crime nests” and go live in autarky in the countryside. “Equip yourself to defend yourself”he suggests, all in innuendo.

At 36, Ugo Gil Jimenez, a Toulousain of Spanish origin, described by Eric Zemmour as ” friendly “ and D’” clever “, dissertations on politics and providing life advice to Internet users since 2018. His YouTube channel has 184,000 subscribers. But we can now find him on his other channel, “Les Droitards”. He is not alone in the niche of the radical right: Le Raptor has 736,000 subscribers, Valek, 383,000, Greg Toussaint, 324,000, Stéphane Edouard, 318,000, Baptiste Marchais, 267,000 and Bruno Le Salé, 270,000. In addition to YouTube, all this little world is also present on Instagram, Gettr or Twitter… To live, some sell coaching, like Stéphane Edouard, specializing in seduction, or nutrition products, like Le Raptor, a fitness enthusiast. Others, books, like Papacito, who is thus regularly invited by André Bercoff on Sud Radio or by “VA +”, the YouTube channel of Current values.

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These influencers seek to shape the political culture of a young audience, typically between the ages of 15 and 35. Some videos can be viewed millions of times. “Sometimes as much as those of TF1 or France 2. That’s a lot for political content”, believes Tristan Boursier. According to this doctoral student in political theory at Sciences Po Paris, there is not, on the other side of the political spectrum, a community of such magnitude: “On the left, the most important influencers are Usul and Bonjour Tristesse. » The first benefits from a partnership with Mediapartand the second has 234,000 subscribers.

Masculinism, “anti-egalitarianism”, “white supremacy”

In the far-right movement, influencers are becoming rarer. The best known is called Estelle Redpill. At 26, the young woman, who has 15,800 subscribers on TikTok, is not afraid to shock. In one of her latest videos, she relativizes the role of the United States during the Second World War. If they have us “liberated from Nazism”it’s for the better “manipulate us afterwards”.

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