Perceptions of Far-Right Extremist Violence as Terrorism: Exploring Influences on Public Perception in the United Kingdom

This article presents the results of an empirical inquiry into the complex dynamics of public perception of Far-Right Extremism (FRE). The instrument of data collection was an online questionnaire which produced a rich dataset comprising both quantitative and qualitative data. This study investigates the extent to which the United Kingdom’s (U.K.) public associates Far-Right violence with terrorism and whether media consumption, trustworthiness of media reporting of FRE incidents and social identity—age, gender and ethnicity—influence whether individuals attribute a terrorist label to FRE case studies. Statistical analyses revealed a significant relationship between Social Media and TV News Programmes consumption and the trustworthiness of TV News, Tabloid and Broadsheet Newspapers reporting on the labelling of several FRE incidents as terroristic or not. Statistical analysis also revealed that respondents’ age and gender significantly influenced whether three of the four case studies were classified as acts of terrorism, whereas ethnicity had no impact. The research advances the current depth of understanding on labelling of FRE incidents as terrorism by conducting a much-needed empirical investigation and elucidating the diverse range of influences on public perception of FRE.