On Sept. 26, a gunman opened fire on a Russian primary school killing at least 17 and injuring 24, 11 of which were children. The attacker, 34-year-old Artem Kazantsev, shot himself shortly after opening fire. He was a former pupil at School 88 in the city of Izhevsk—home of the AK-47.
The gunman was found wearing a T-shirt covered in neo-Nazi symbolism—which calls our attention to the rise of fascist right-wing violence worldwide. This can be associated with increased White-Nationalistic sentiments being pushed by major global actors in the rise of economic uncertainty and worldwide political turmoil. The ease and accessibility to neo-Nazi forums on the Internet need to be regulated and prohibited from websites to prevent more young white men from carrying out acts of violence in the name of white nationalism.
Similarly to Russia, in the United States, there has been a steady increase in hate and Neo-Nazi-inspired shootings in the past decade. Specifically, the shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., and the shooting in Highland Park, Ill. were both carried out by white nationalists who had been active in Neo-Nazi chat rooms on the internet. The social chat rooms, mixed with the readiness of weapons available to 18-year-olds, create the perfect storm for white nationalists to carry out hate crimes and acts of terror in the United States.
Though it is hard to pinpoint what exact ideologies prompt these young men to gain the inspiration to carry out these attacks, there has been a link to the shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., Highland Park, Ill., and Christchurch, New Zealand. That link is the Great Replacement Theory—a manifesto written about how the white race is dying out and being replaced by people of color. The Great Replacement Theory “is a conspiracy theory that states that nonwhite individuals are being brought into the United States and other Western countries to “replace” white voters to achieve a political agenda.” This theory is incredibly harmful and should be taken down from social media platforms.
There have been three school shootings in Russia in the past three years, which has called for increased forms of gun control despite new policies being implemented just last year. The shooter used two non-lethal guns and adapted them to shoot real bullets which questions the legitimacy of the gun control regulations in Russia. The spike in recent gun violence has called for Putin to reevaluate the current regulations in place. The gun laws in Russia call for strict background checks, mental health clearance, and clean records. A history of substance abuse also disqualifies someone from purchasing a gun. Russian laws are far stricter and act in place to prevent mass shootings. Violence is still able to seep through the cracks of strict regulations, however, the number of violent shootings carried out in Russia compared to the United States is still far less.
Social media companies need to increase censorship of neo-Nazi and white nationalist discourse on their platforms and governments should take stronger measures to instill stricter gun laws to protect the citizens of the world. Social media companies should flag down violent white-nationalist sentiments and remove them from their platforms, inform local law enforcement if threats are made and disqualify those who make threats on their platforms from purchasing a gun.
How many more children does the world have to lose for governments to start preventing these heinous hate crimes from being carried out?
