Far-right extremists have gained a huge pool of new recruits among the members of rapidly growing social media groups pushing conspiracy theories about the pandemic.
That's according to a researcher on disinformation, who says Saturday's riot in Dublin followed the same pattern as the attack on the US Capitol in Washington in January.
There are over forty such Facebook groups operating in Ireland -- and they've grown their membership by around 90% since last July.
Ciarán O'Connor from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue says the scenes at the weekend were the result of months of online organising by fringe groups.
"Extremist, actors, activists, groups are using the current period to stir up anger and hostility."
"To radicalise people against the current situation, against Gardaí, against NPHET and against the Government."
"To get people on the streets, to act on that."
"There are people turning out with violent intentions, to use these protests as a means to inflict violence against their opponents."
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has addressed the video from Grafton Street today, where a person can be seen firing what looks like fireworks at members of the force:@NewstalkFM pic.twitter.com/9on5Hk7Wuw
— Tom Douglas (@TomDouglas95) February 27, 2021
Saturday Was The "Culmination" Of Months Of Organising
Irish-based social media groups promoting conspiracy theories have been growing rapidly in the last six months, Ciarán says.
The Disinformation researcher adds they've been a fertile recruiting ground for extreme groups.
He says social media companies like Facebook and Twitter have failed to act.
"A sample of just over 40 Facebook groups which are typically used to share Covid conspiracy theories."
"The membership between July and February has jumped 90%, from 68,500 Facebook users to just over 130,000."
"You can see how quickly people have latched on to misleading information.
"There are also people who are using these groups deliberately.""
