Student voice: weaponised history: how the far-right uses the participatory web to appropriate history

The digital rise of the far-right on the participatory web (social media, blogs, YouTube) poses a new threat to history educators. Technology has enabled the far-right to have a greater reach than in previous years. This problem has not been discussed, at least not in depth, at the higher education level. Rather than ignore the digital rise of the far-right as just racist musings on the internet, academics must be aware of how prominent and advanced our search algorithms have let the far-right become. This chapter focuses on the online far-right community and the potential impact that their misuse of history, specifically ancient history, can have on students and in particular, the far-right’s view that Ancient Greece and Rome were, in the majority, white societies. This chapter argues that one of the ways this issue can be combated is by including academic blogs in the classroom in order to generate a discussion regarding far-right appropriation. This chapter will examine two scholarly blogs that provide relevant and easily accessible information regarding this issue and may therefore be a faster and better alternative than peer-reviewed scholarship.