A onetime campaign aide to Donald J. Trump posted on social media last month. Candlelight vigils would be held in 20 cities on Thursday to honor those who were involved in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The founder of Look Ahead America, a right-wing organization, said that January 6th was America's Tiananmen Square. Join us in marking this lie with #J6vigils from coast to coast.
The responses were very sparse. The message was liked by 78 people and shared by 21.
The post was an example of what right-wing groups and supporters of Mr. Trump are planning to do. According to a review by The New York Times of recent posts from right-wing groups on sites, online chatter about celebrations and rallies for the anniversary has grown in recent weeks, but the posts have not attracted much buzz.
Many of the conversations online are centered on gatherings for specific groups in places such as Dallas and Phoenix. A local chapter of the Proud Boys in Miami planned to hold a protest on Thursday to honor the people who were arrested after storming the Capitol. A group dedicated to protesting mask mandates in Beverly Hills said on Telegram that it planned to hold a rally in January to honor Ashli Babbitt, who was killed by federal officers while storming the Capitol building.
There has been no mention of violence or guns in the posts. The groups have mostly focused on positioning the Jan. 6 rioters as heroes and martyrs and encouraged people to push local political leaders toward a far-right agenda. The posts call on supporters to think of long-term goals such as stopping mask and vaccine mandates.
Efforts to organize an anniversary protest in Washington on Thursday have appeared to gain little traction online according to The Times.
An Ohio member of the Proud Boys wrote on Telegram that they should stay out of Washington. Federal agents are going to be in disguise and waiting to arrest anyone who shows up.
The member asked what the point of D.C. was. Stay local, make a difference in your hometown.
Since President Biden was inaugurated last January, far-right groups have largely splintered across the internet. Many of the groups that were once united under the banner of Mr. Trump have since been kicked off of social media sites and are more active in their local communities.
The founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism said that there is a broad shift happening right now. They have different messages on different platforms.
The Stop the Steal movement, which was fomented by right-wing groups and Mr. Trump, was a far cry from what we are seeing today. More than 700 people were arrested in connection with the riot after thousands of Mr. Trump's supporters showed up in Washington.
The Capitol building was attacked by rioters on January 6.
The Proud Boys and Mr. Braynard did not respond to questions. Telegram didn't respond to the request for comment.
Right-wing activity on social media has not stopped.
A report was published by the Tech Transparency Project, an industry watchdog group funded by the philanthropic organizations of billionaires including Pierre Omidyar and George Soros, showing that Facebook continued to push pages related to militia organizations and the Three Percenters. The activity was continuing even after Facebook cracked down on groups related to the conspiracy theory of QAnon.
The director of the Tech Transparency Project created a Facebook account in July to follow militia group pages to track how the social network recommended content to certain users after the events of January 6.
A banner image of a snake wrapped around a semiautomatic rifle was superimposed on a Three Percenter logo on a page that surfaced in her test account. She said that her account encountered ads on Facebook that tried to recruit her.
Card 1 of 10.
The December ad was seen by less than 1,000 Facebook users, but it asked if you were ready to train and prepare for the future. The 6th Battalion of the 1st Missouri Volunteer Infantry is looking for new members.
The militia pages on Facebook have been taken down. The company said it had taken steps to address harmful content.
Kevin McAlister, a spokesman for Meta, said that the company has strong policies that they continue to enforce.
He said that the company was in contact with law enforcement authorities and was monitoring threats on its platform.
The service will be monitored for calls to violence on Thursday, and it has an internal group prepared to enforce its rules if violent content grows.
The social media companies may face a harder time on Thursday than they did a year ago, because conversations about the Jan. 6 anniversary were not on Facebook, Telegram or other channels. Some commenters said they couldn't attend anniversary rallies but wished others well.
An Ohio member of the Proud Boys wrote that they should honor their brothers and friends. Keep fighting in their name.
I can't keep track of what's happening where, can we get a group calendar?
Kate Conger was involved in reporting.
