The paper makes constant references to toxicity, extremism, and hate speech, and uses a variety of tools to quantify them, but nowhere are those terms defined. This is the only section with examples:
Popular discussion themes of Lemmygrad.ml. Table 1 presents the top 20 topics with most posts on Lemmygrad.ml. We find that users on Lemmygrad.ml frequently discuss two AES countries, China and North Korea, with many posts expressing support for them. An example post from c/genzedong:
“DPRK IS THE ONLY KOREA, IMPERIALISTS CONTINUE TO OCCUPY THE SOUTHERN REGION OF DPRK.”
In the topic related to Ukraine, we find many posts supporting or justifying the Russian invasion of Ukraine. An example post from c/politics:
“No one’s asking you to be ok with all the horrors of war. But if we don’t understand what started it, we won’t be able to finish it. Ukraine’s ethnic cleansing of Russians, suppression of the LPR and DPR, and flirtation with NATO must stop if ever this war will end.”
We find that discussions on the Israel-Palestine conflict primarily criticize Israel. While many posts condemn antisemitism, we also encounter numerous posts that extend beyond criticizing Israel, displaying anti-Zionism and even antisemitism. An example post from c/communism:
[quotes a removed comment from a banned user]
Besides relatively mundane topics, we see topics related to ideologies, economics, and countries, where posts predominantly reflect Marxist/Leninist or Maoist perspectives.
Takeaways. Our results show that users of Lemmygrad.ml frequently share posts that support authoritarian regimes, as seen in their support for China, North Korea, and Russia. Moreover, their support can extend beyond backing these authoritarian regimes, even cheering on their violent actions, as evidenced by their posts on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Additionally, we observe anti-Zionist and antisemitic behaviors, which show similarities to right-wing extremism (Zannettou et al. 2020). Our analysis suggests a concerning endorsement of authoritarian actions and extremist rhetoric on Lemmygrad.ml, further indicating that left-wing extremist communities on decentralized platforms should receive more attention from the academic community.
Oh boy!