Language shapes the way we think. It is an incredibly powerful tool and one of the best we have for influencing outcomes. But when it is misused, it can become a violent weapon. The acclaimed author and editor, Toni Morrison, argued in her 1993 Nobel Lecture: ‘Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is violence.’
Today, social media allows anyone to create, spread, and adopt new language faster than ever before. This has enabled certain political actors to manipulate language in unprecedented ways.
Words as Weapons
According to the Global Language Monitor, a new word is created in English every 98 minutes, and in 2025, the Cambridge Dictionary added over 6,000 new words to its existing stock. Many of these neologisms (newly created words) were internet slang terms, popularised on social media. But despite the capacity for new words to grow and spread at lightning pace, the average lifespan of slang terms has decreased dramatically as neologisms quickly gain and lose popularity. This linguistic acceleration is partly responsible for creating division between age groups and subcultures, leading to difficulties in mutual understanding. But as language becomes more exclusive and specific, those on the far right are weaponising this exclusivity to create and grow isolated internet subcultures to brainwash their members.
Many alt-right groups strategically use exclusive labels to cultivate an insular group identity and enforce a rigid us-versus-them dynamic. For example, terms such as ‘normies’ or ‘NPCs’ are used to dismiss outsiders who are generally seen as unintelligent and short-sighted. Meanwhile, in-group members are framed as enlightened and forward-thinking. The labels act as a boundary, delineating the superior in-group against the backwards out-group. Additionally, coded terminology is employed to create an echo chamber that reinforces the shared ideology. Within this framework, alt-right rhetoric often adopts the language of victimhood. Members tend to present themselves as a persecuted majority under attack by minorities, elites, or progressive institutions. One prominent example is the ‘white genocide’ narrative, which claims that immigration, multiculturalism, and declining birth rates endanger the survival of white people as a group. Shifting blame to account for economic, social or cultural anxieties by scapegoating another group enables the alt-right to claim moral authority and justify the language of hostility as self-defence.
A Secret Dialect
Through the use of dogwhistling and coded phrases, far-right individuals can also transmit extremist ideologies to the in-group that are missed by the broader public. For example, (((Echoes))) is a hateful dog whistle which emerged online as a way to identify and target Jewish individuals, marking them as the subject of conspiracy theories or harassment without explicitly saying so. Extremist communities employ dogwhistling terms to evade online moderation and to strengthen the community’s identity. This is all part of a constantly evolving extremist dialect, designed to promote group solidarity and hate of outsiders.
Another clever technique used by alt-right groups is the use of exclusive in-jokes, which mock outsiders who do not understand the vernacular. This is often achieved through memes and humour, which have become a go-to recruitment tool and a way to normalise a group’s specific ideology. Matt Furie’s innocent cartoon character, Pepe the Frog, has suffered serious reputational damage after being co-opted by far-right internet communities and turned into a symbol for extremist ideologies. Variants of Pepe often depict him in ways that reference white nationalism, antisemitism, or other controversial far-right beliefs.
The point to note is that in using a familiar cartoon character, extremist groups can present radical ideas in a humorous, seemingly harmless way, making it easier for newcomers to engage without immediately recognising the ideological referents. This tactic is designed to make extremist narratives more palatable and acceptable to a mainstream audience, especially younger people. This way, extreme statements can be disguised as ‘just a joke,’ and the ‘jokes’ then used to desensitise new members to hate speech and violence, making extremist values seem more normal. Memes also offer a simple, easy-to-understand snapshot of extremist ideas for the general public, making the barrier to entry very low.
Ultimately, language is a powerful mechanism that shapes perception, identity, and beliefs. Alt-right groups exploit linguistic acceleration, coded terminology, and humour to create exclusionary communities and normalise extremist thinking. By disguising hate through irony, victimhood, and in-group language, these groups make their narratives more palatable and harder to challenge. Understanding how language is weaponised is therefore essential in recognising, resisting, and dismantling contemporary forms of extremism.
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