Roll in the Tanks! Measuring Left-wing Extremism on Reddit at Scale

2023-07-13

AI Summary

This study presents the first large-scale empirical analysis of “tankie” left-wing extremism on Reddit (1.3 million posts, 53,000 authors), addressing a critical gap in quantitative research on non-violent yet exclusionary radical ideologies. Employing computational social science methods—including subreddit-level community detection, semantic alignment of ideological discourse, and network positioning modeling—we examine their dissemination mechanisms, ideological contours, and structural role within the broader far-left ecosystem. Results reveal: (1) tankies occupy a structurally peripheral position within far-left communities, exhibiting pronounced network isolation; (2) their discourse is markedly state-centric, prioritizing geopolitical narratives over grassroots social movement concerns; and (3) pervasive conceptual isomorphism and a systematic theory–practice discursive disjunction characterize their ideology. The study advances a novel, reproducible methodological framework for analyzing ideologically driven online radicalization, offering foundational insights into the evolution of hegemonic yet non-violent extremist formations in digital public spheres.

Abstract

Social media's role in the spread and evolution of extremism is a focus of intense study. Online extremists have been involved in the spread of online hate, mis- and disinformation, and real-world violence. However, most existing work has focuses on right-wing extremism. In this paper, we perform a first of its kind large-scale measurement study exploring left-wing extremism. We focus on"tankies,"a left-wing community that first arose in the 1950s in support of hardline actions of the USSR and has evolved to support what they call"Actually Existing Socialist"countries, e.g., CCP-run China, the USSR, and North Korea. We collect and analyze 1.3M posts from 53K authors from tankie subreddits, and explore the position of tankies within the broader far-left community on Reddit. Among other things, we find that tankies are clearly on the periphery of the larger far-left community. When examining the contents of posts, we find misalignments and conceptual homomorphisms that confirm the description of tankies in the theoretical work. We also discover that tankies focus more on state-level political events rather than social issues. Our findings provide empirical evidence of the distinct positioning and discourse of left-wing extremist groups on social media.

Problem

• Measure left-wing extremism on Reddit at scale
• Analyze tankies' position within far-left community
• Examine state-level focus in extremist discourse

Innovation

• Large-scale measurement of left-wing extremism
• Analysis of 1.3M posts from tankie subreddits
• Identification of state-level political focus