AltRight

The alt-right, also known as the alternative right, is a loosely connected far-right ideological movement that originated in the late 2000s and drew broad attention in the early 2010s. It is associated with white nationalist, white supremacist, anti-immigrant, and ethnonationalist ideas, along with critiques of multiculturalism and liberal democracy.

The term was popularized by figures such as Richard Spencer around 2010, and it was used to brand certain far-right ideas as intellectual or anti-establishment, while overlapping with older white nationalist and neo-Nazi currents.

The alt-right cultivated a culture of online activism, using memes, blogs, and social media to spread its message. It relied on online communities on platforms such as 4chan and 8chan and sought influence through cultural rather than traditional political channels.

The movement attracted mainstream attention after the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, which led to widespread condemnation of its ideologies.

In the following years, platform moderation and political backlash diminished its visibility; internal disagreements and organizational fragmentation further reduced its public coherence, with adherents dispersing or rebranding.

Scholars and commentators describe the term as contested; some view it as a branding label for a spectrum of white nationalist and supremacist ideas, while others treat it as a distinct online subculture with its own norms.