ISD Glossary
ISD’s Glossary provides clear definitions of key terms related to extremism, hate, information operations and tech accountability. This page is continually reviewed to ensure accuracy.
Racism
Racism is based on false assumptions of the existence of different human races according to which people of the same presumed “race” share certain characteristics.
Redpilling
Taking the red pill is a phrase that originated from the 1999 science fiction film, The Matrix, that refers to a person choosing to become aware of perceived unpleasant but necessary truths in the world, instead of taking the blue pill, which instead describes choosing to remain living in blissful ignorance about the world. The phrase has been adopted by far-right or misogynistic online communities in recent years and is now part of the vernacular among conspiracy communities like QAnon. It is used to describe the process of how an uninitiated person becomes educated about the central belief system of a particular conspiracy. QAnon redpilling takes the form of online users becoming exposed to videos and fringe sites that provide material to support the claim that an elite group of child-trafficking paedophiles rule the world and that outgoing President Trump has a secret plan in place to bring this group to justice.
Reichsbürger & Sovereigntists
Reichsbürger are an extremist German movement whose ideology is similar to that of “Sovereign Citizens” in the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom. Although the Reichsbürger movement encompasses various movements, they are united by the common conviction that the Federal Republic of Germany is not a sovereign state and that the laws and rules passed by the German state are therefore not binding.
