Internet-nationalism (also known as cyber-nationalism or online-nationalism) is

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

which bases its activity on the Internet. Cyber-nationalism has different aspects, which may help the government as a part of the propaganda. As a social phenomena, cyber-nationalism is nationalistic groups who are gathering on the internet. They often perform offensive actions against other countries, such as hacking and trying to affect elections. This phenomenon can be found in several countries such as

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Background

The Internet makes it easy to communicate without physical borders. Through digitization, people who are living in different counties, can communicate better than before. It is theorized that physical borders, which once prevented homophilous actors from congregating, are absent on the internet, allowing people of like mind to meet and politically or socially mobilize, whereas pre-internet they were unable to. Others, however, have argued that this idea is idealistic. Users on the internet tend to harbor a strong dislike towards each other, unlike the expectation.

Cyber-war

Cyber-nationalism is part of the governmental policy. Governments use the internet as a part of propaganda to mobilize people. The Internet has certain advantage to encourage and improve nationalism. It catches more awareness than traditional media such as Newspapers and Television. Moreover, Internet makes it easier to organize activities.

By country

China

In China, cyber-nationalism is very active. Chinese nationalists and the Chinese communist party use the Internet resources available to them (considering that the Internet is restricted in China by

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

and the Great Firewall) to organize online and recruit further supporters. The isolationist view and xenophobic tendency are also consistently ridiculed in this aspect of Chinese cyber nationalism. Other Chinese nationalists use the Internet to hack, spam, and otherwise influence the technological infrastructure of nations the nationalists consider anti-China, primarily members of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

. Many Western observers, as well as Chinese dissidents, believe that cyber-nationalist and hacking efforts are aided or organized by the Chinese government. However, there are individuals and organizations who voluntarily carry out their own cyber initiatives to defend their country. In 2016, Little Pink, an organization composed of young digital nationalists, attacked the social media account of

Chou Tzu-yu Chou Tzu-yu ( zh, 周子瑜}; , born 14 June 1999), known mononymously as Tzuyu (, ), is a Taiwanese singer based in South Korea. She is the only Taiwanese member of the girl group Twice, formed by JYP Entertainment in 2015. Life and career ...

after the Taiwanese pop singer waved Taiwan's flag on a television show. A number of the cyber nationalist activities are said to be reactive or event-driven and forced by actors or instances when China's national interests are damaged. For instance, there is an increase in anti-American cyber nationalistic movement every time the U.S. elevated its threat level against China. These movements often include cyber attacks such as the case of the China Eagle Club, a hacker organization that carried out the so-called Taiwan Blitz designed to combat Chen Shui-bian's ascent to power.

Japan

In Japan, recently cyber-nationalists ( netto-uyoku) have become very active. They communicate with each other on the internet. In 2009, some part of the cyber-nationalist took actions against Korean tourists in the

Tsushima Island is an island of the Japanese archipelago situated in-between the Tsushima Strait and Korea Strait, approximately halfway between Kyushu and the Korean Peninsula. The main island of Tsushima, once a single island, was divided into two in 1671 b ...

, which is located near

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. Footage of this can be found on YouTube. According to Rumi Sakamoto, "This episode is just one expression of Japan’s new grassroots

, which has gained force over the last decade against the backdrop of increasingly vociferous historical revisionism and

neo-nationalism Neo-nationalism, or new nationalism, is an ideology and political movement built on the basic characteristics of classical nationalism. It developed to its final form by applying elements with reactionary character generated as a reaction to th ...

." In the past these kind of actions would not have raised public awareness, but the internet makes it easy for these groups to get public attention.

Russia

In Russia, nationalist groups use the Internet to solicit donations, recruit and organize. After the Russo-Georgian war, groups on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

such as "Abkhazia is not Georgia" and other Internet communities formed. Since many ethnic Russians were worried about

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

from the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

region, Russian nationalists doxxed students who are studying in Caucasian universities. They also proliferated propaganda videos in which dark-skinned young people are beating up ethnic Russians. At the same time, anti-Russian government

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

groups are recruiting on the Internet. In this case, cyber-nationalism aids in building support for the Chechen Republic and ethnic Chechen people against the Russian state, along with other minority groups that feel marginalized by the Russian Federation under

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...