The hate industry

By December 16, 2022Australian Politics, Media, Society

The industry that has sprung up around the hatred of Meghan Markle is an extraordinary development and I wonder where it has come from.

Since assorted RWNJs whined that they would not watch the Harry and Meghan documentary, I decided I had to watch it. What I saw was two people who seem more or less normal, allowing for the difficult and horrible circumstances of their respective upbringings. The fact that RWNJs whined about the show has probably convinced many people to watch it, as I was. It turned out that the first episode was Netflix’s biggest documentary debut ever. It appeared in the Top 10 TV lists in 85 countries1. So, it seems that if a company such as Netflix wants to have a hit series they need RWNJs to condemn it. It seems to have worked a treat this time.

Meghan Markle is no stranger to public harassment. She’s received it from the petulant, verminous Piers Morgan, members of the royal family, and people who were mortified that she wrote a children’s book. The level of hate she has faced, especially online, is astonishing. In late 2021, a report from Bot Sentinel, an analytical service that has previously looked into the right-wing discrediting of the 2020 US presidential election result, the spread of COVID-19 disinformation, and the racist abuse of England football players, began analysing the online hate towards Markle, focusing especially on Twitter. Bot Sentinel has revealed that not only was there a coordinated effort on Twitter to spread negative messages about her, but that harassment came from a small coordinated group of users. In fact, the analysis revealed that 70 percent of the hateful posts examined came from just 83 Twitter accounts which had an estimated reach of 17 million Twitter users2.

I used to think there were several reasons for the opprobrium and outright hatred directed at Markle. Firstly, she is American as was Wallis Simpson, the Duke of Windsor’s (former Edward VIII) wife; secondly, she is a divorcee, as was Wallis Simpson and is Camilla Parker-Bowles, thirdly, she has some black ancestry.

Much of the right-wing nutjobbery against Markle in Australia has come from Murdoch’s Sky News with such intellectual giants (sarcasm font) as Rita Panahi3, who purposely misconstrued an instance of Markle (in the documentary) making fun of herself as being somehow sickening. Also having a go at Markle was the ruperter Sophie Elsworth who claims Markle is on a rampage to destroy the monarchy. I think the monarchy will accomplish that themselves without much external help, given their ‘supporters’ in the yellow press4. Even Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes got in on the act, saying Prince Harry made an “awful mistake” by marrying Meghan Markle and leaving the royal family behind, and “I think she’s had a terrible influence over him … She’s just a horrible human”5. I suspect that Hughes has never met Markle, nor knows much about her, and is just joining in the hate-fest because it seems like a thing the RWNJs should do.

Bot Sentinel also found that the hate narrative around Markle was bolstered by a “bot network,” essentially hundreds of inauthentic Twitter accounts that amplified the hate and conspiracy theories about her, while also following some of the 84 original hate accounts as well as credible royal reporters (oxymoron alert!) and ‘journalists’2. These days, ‘journalists’ are not so much writers and analysers of news, but followers of trends so that they can garner more online clicks from, or sell more newspapers to the punters, with bullshit headlines which tend to misrepresent the content of any story attached to it. So, if a number of Twitter accounts follow a particular ‘journalist’, the said ‘journalist’ is likely to think it would be worth writing a story that reflects the hate expressed by those Twitter accounts.

So many RWNJs will tell you it is because she led Harry to ditch the Royal family. However, this hatred heaped on Markle started long before that, and it was one of the reasons Harry and Meghan shot through.

Back in 2020, the English football (i.e. soccer) team faced Italy in the Euro final and lost the deciding penalty shootout. Three players missed penalties. They were Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, who all happen to be black, and were all subjected to extreme amounts of racial abuse, some of which came from outside the UK. This sort of racial abuse is happening all across the world6. Racists are everywhere.

In the current world cup, England played France in the quarter finals, and the England Captain, Harry Kane missed a late penalty which allowed France to win 2:17. There of course will be no racial abuse of Kane as he is white. I suspect there will be very little abuse of him at all.

Why do you think the white supremacists of the yellow press and their Twitter ‘guides’ are so exercised by Markle? One guess. I also wonder if the Markle hate industry is perceived as a useful distraction from the alleged paedophile Prince Andrew.

Sources

  1. https://twitter.com/cbouzy/status/1602761326232834050/photo/2
  2. https://www.thecut.com/2022/01/new-report-meghan-markle-was-focus-of-twitter-hate-campaign.html
  3. https://www.skynews.com.au/opinion/rita-panahi/rita-panahi-takes-aim-at-sickening-meghan-markle-moment/video/f97ea098bbf164626254f0e000a70e3a
  4. https://www.skynews.com.au/opinion/andrew-bolt/meghan-markle-on-a-rampage-to-destroy-the-institution/video/66edd862d570a71b725a5cdd9bef50b9
  5. https://www.skynews.com.au/opinion/a-horrible-human-meghan-markle-has-a-terrible-influence-over-prince-harry/video/b51f4c18abf33034e05c6ec994e739db
  6. https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/english-football-faces-up-global-nature-online-hate-2021-07-13/
  7. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/12/10/football/france-england-2022-world-cup-spt-intl/index.html

10 Comments

  • Yvonne T says:

    I am not sure that RWNJ condemnation is a necessary factor for Netflix to score a hit. The Harry/Meghan thing is about so-called “royal” people. Stuff like that attracts huge audiences no matter who condemns it or who does not. Especially if it is about so-called “royal” people arguing with other so-called “royal” people. Why people are so fascinated by them is a mystery to me. Their qualification for their status is that about a millennium ago one of their ancestors was more successful at murdering all of his rivals than anybody else. The whole thing is enough to bore you to tears, but for some reason they goggle at it in droves. Netflix knows that. I would be surprised if Netflix cares who condemns it. I will certainly not be wasting my time watching it.

    • admin says:

      Yvonne,
      Like you, I have little interest in the Royal Family/Business. However, what interests me is the bizarre ecosystem which allows such lies spread about Markle to proliferate without anyone being called to account. What also interested me was the appalling symbiotic relationship between the Royal Business and the disgusting tabloids. It is not a waste of time watching it.

    • Jon says:

      Excellent summary of the “royal” blood history Yvonne. As much as recent regents have ‘served the nation’ the whole “royal” title bs is based on unearned privilege and unmerited deference. The number of hangers-on – distant relos – is even more ludicrous. Then again that kingdom still has an unelected House of Lords, optional voting, and a first past the post election system which is highly unrepresentative.

      • Yvonne T says:

        Thank you Jon. I have previously suggested (in other forums) that the so-called “royals” could be stripped of their wealth and palaces, most of which they stole historically from others less fortunate, and given a couple or three Council Houses in some nondescript town in the English Midlands. In Australian terms they would become “Housos”. They would be told to go away and not come back, granted a standard state pension for 12 months, and advised that after 12 months they would be expected to go out and get a proper job and pay tax like everyone else. Then their palaces could be opened up to the public like Versailles in France, and create more revenue for the state.

        You would not believe the abuse I get for putting those views forward on social media, in Britain and in Australia. They are bludgers, born and bred, and for me, any time spent following their fortunes IS, really, a waste of time, (admin take note). The more people subscribe to Netflix and watch the Harry and Meghan rubbish, the more Netflix will be encouraged to produce more dismal docos about these very ordinary bludgers who live off other people’s taxes and the popularisation of their shenanigans.

        Please, everyone (including admin), stop watching them and they might just go away one day. Until then, all Australians will be banned from being Head of State of their own country.

  • clive pegler says:

    I very vaguely recall reading some bollocks, many years ago, discussing the proximity to the Inglish (sic) throne of common Inglish peeps. But, it seems, if one doesn’t possess a drop of blood from some long dead Baroness of Hapsburg, (or summat), the peasants just don’t qualify. That’s fuckin hilarious!

    Did I really need to watch ‘the Harry/Meghan thing’? I didn’t btw but dear old Aunty presented me with a pretty comprehensive summation, wanted or not.

    “Inglan is a bitch
    dere’s no escapin it
    Inglan is a bitch
    dere’s no runnin’ whey fram it”
    (Linton Kwesi Johnson)

    • admin says:

      Clive,
      That reminds me of a something that I was told by my father that his father had told him in the 1950s or thereabouts. My grandfather was a coal miner, first in northern England and then in New South Wales. At the time, some royal pillock was visiting Australia and my grandfather reputedly said: “I left England to get away from these bastards, now they are following me out here”. It did make me laugh.

  • Jim says:

    While there is certainly a substantial element of racism in the criticism, the real problem is that we have a self-indulgent, self entitled couple who have ratted on their family for a very large sum of money. This is basically unforgiveable. I should point out that I am not a monarchist and indeed voted for the republic in the previous referendum and will do so at the next one–hopefully in the not too distant future.

    • admin says:

      Jim,
      It’s not so much a family, as a business. And the business seems to be deeply involved in the hate. A day or so ago, Camilla hosted a dinner party at which vacuous twats like Jeremy Clarkson and Piers Morgan were guests. Those two have been at the forefront of the hate industry around Markle. Smoking gun?

  • Warren says:

    I rarely take any notice of British Royal rubbish, but there is no doubt in my mind that the royals/business are behind the attacks behind the unbelievable attack on Markle.
    My conspiracy crazy mates are convinced that Harry is not popular as Charlie is not has biological father. Absolutely crazy.

    It’s a shame the French solution wasn’t used against the British “royal” family many years ago.

    • admin says:

      Warren,
      I have suspected for some time that the demise of QE2 will lead to a decline in the admiration of the monarchy felt by your average Brit. I think that it will certainly be the case here. The only reason the republic referendum was defeated in 1999 was that the dills running the Republic side of things allowed the appalling Howard to drive a wedge between those who wanted a selected president and those who wanted a directly elected president.

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