The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), a London-based counter-extremism think-tank which monitors social media platforms used by such groups, says the online ecosystem supporting Covid-19 protests in Ireland and abroad are the same spaces “replete with deceptive information that is radicalising people”.
Ciaran O’Connor, a researcher with ISD, has said the Herbert Park event seems to be the main one being discussed among anti-Covid groups online and in chat forums.
“It has a similar branding to the Unite The Tribes event, using market-ready sanitised language promoting togetherness,” he said.
“We have seen posts encouraging people to open their businesses on the day too,” he explained.