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Opinion | How terrorist and extremist groups are exploiting coronavirus cracks in society
- Al-Qaeda and Isis are using Covid-19 to forge legitimacy and draw more people to their violent causes, while right-wing extremists and white supremacists step up racist violence. Governments need to start preparing their defence
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As the world grapples with the Covid-19 pandemic, terrorist groups across the ideological spectrum are using it to validate their ideologies to lure more recruits and plot new attacks.
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While transnational militants such as al-Qaeda and Islamic State (Isis) frame the pandemic as divine retribution, right-wing extremists in the West blame migrant communities, particularly the Jews and Chinese, for bringing contagion, and have called for strong borders, protectionism and anti-immigration policies.
The coronavirus pandemic will create a new set of grievances while exacerbating existing ones, resulting in deprivation and disenfranchisement that could lead to new forms of political violence.
In 19th century Britain, a group of textile workers known as Luddites violently protested against technology for displacing their jobs. In the wake of Covid-19, some radical fringe groups in Europe have burned 5G telephone towers, erroneously believing radiation from these poles cause the disease. Some neo-Luddite groups may find a common cause if they lose their jobs to greater technological penetration in a post-Covid-19 world.
Some of this frustration will find space in existing radical ideologies and organisational platforms, while other forms of violence may see the emergence of new radical groups and ideologies.
Mainly, those about to lose their jobs to automation, artificial intelligence and telecommuting might jump on the violent anti-establishment bandwagon. Learning from remote work experience during Covid-19, many corporate firms and companies will replace physical working with smart working to reduce costs.
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