Stefan Molyneux

Stefan Molyneux is an Irish-Canadian, far-right nationalist, antisemite, and leader in the alt-right movement. He promotes scientific racism, which is the belief that there is empirical evidence suggesting the superiority of white people over non-white individuals.Kevin Roose, “The Making of a YouTube radical,” New York Times, June 8, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/08/technology/youtube-radical.html. Molyneux, who is the host of Freedomain Radio, which is billed as the “largest philosophy conversation in the world,” is also an avid promoter of eugenics, antisemitism, and misogyny.“Stefan Molyneux,” Southern Poverty Law Center, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/stefan-molyneux; Sam Levin, “Fired Google memo writer gives first big interviews to rightwing YouTubers,” Guardian, August 9, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/aug/09/james-damore-google-memo-youtube-interviews.

Molyneux has been banned from PayPal, Mailchimp, YouTube, Twitter, and SoundCloud for violating hate speech policies.Julia Alexander, “YouTube bans Stefan Molyneux, David Duke, Richard Spencer, and more for hate speech,” The Verge, July 29, 2020, https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/29/21307303/youtube-bans-molyneux-duke-richard-spencer-conduct-hate-speech. In addition to believing and promoting that the Holocaust never happened, Molyneux uses his platform to glorify the South African Apartheid and the transatlantic slave trade as well as to demonize civil rights leaders and activists such as Martin Luther King, Jr. Indeed, he has repeatedly said that non-white human beings were racially and genetically inferior to white individuals.Gavin Evans, “The unwelcome revival of ‘race science’,” Guardian, March 2, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/02/the-unwelcome-revival-of-race-science.

Molyneux began broadcasting his opinions online via a website called Freedomain Radio in 2004, and for the first ten years, the website focused on disseminating his beliefs on anarcho-capitalist ideology, atheism, anti-statism, and anti-feminism.“STEFAN MOLYNEUX,” Southern Poverty Law Center, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/stefan-molyneux. As Molyneux gained an audience, he began to appear on a number of news channels, such as Max Keiser’s “On the Edge Show” on Iran’s Press TV in 2010, as well as appearing as a regular on libertarian Adam Kokesh’s “Adam vs. the Man” show on Russia Today from 2011 to 2012.“STEFAN MOLYNEUX,” Southern Poverty Law Center, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/stefan-molyneux.

Molyneux has been able to use social media and online platforms to spread his rhetoric.Jared Holt, “Stefan Molyneux Thinks New Star Wars Film Is About The Decline Of White People,” Right Wing Watch, December 19, 2017, https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/stefan-molyneux-thinks-new-star-wars-film-is-about-the-decline-of-white-people/. Before being banned from most social media platforms, Molyneux had a considerable viewership and more than 900,000 subscribers on YouTube alone.Will Sommer, “YouTube Boots White Supremacist Richard Spencer, Far-Right Personality Stefan Molyneux for Spewing Hate,” Daily Beast, June 29, 2020, https://www.thedailybeast.com/youtube-boots-white-supremacist-richard-spencer-far-right-personality-stefan-molyneux-for-spewing-hate?ref=scroll. On June 29, 2020, YouTube terminated Molyneux’s account for violating the platform’s hate speech policies.Matt Perez, “YouTube Bans White Supremacists Stefan Molyneux, Richard Spencer, David Duke,” Forbes, June 29, 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattperez/2020/06/29/youtube-bans-white-supremacists-stefan-molyneux-richard-spencer-david-duke/?sh=7b4f96a25ff1; Josephine Harvey, “YouTube Bans White Supremacists Richard Spencer, David Duke And Stefan Molyneux,” Huffington Post, June 29, 2020, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/youtube-bans-richard-spencer-david-duke_n_5efa7fdec5b6acab2845e71f. However, Molyneux still maintains accounts on Facebook and Instagram.“Stefan Molyneux,” Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/stefan.molyneux/?hl=en; “Stefan Molyneux,” Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/stefan.molyneux.

Extremist entity
Unaffiliated
Type(s) of Organization:
N/A
Ideologies and Affiliations:
Scientific racism
Position(s):
Commentator, leader

  • Rhetoric

October 4, 2015

In a YouTube interview on the death of Europe:

“You cannot run a high IQ [white] society with low IQ [non-white] people…these [non-white] immigrants are going to fail...and they're not just going to fail a little, they are going to fail hard…they're not staying on welfare because they’re lazy...they’re doing what is economically the best option for them...you are importing a gene set that is incompatible with success in a free-market economy.”“STEFAN MOLYNEUX,” Southern Poverty Law Center, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/stefan-molyneux.

March 20, 2016

In a YouTube video describing his perspective of the Holocaust:

“The Germans were in danger of being taken over by what they perceived as Jewish-led Communism. And Jewish-led Communism had wiped out tens of millions of white Christians in Russia and they were afraid of the same thing. And there was this wild overreaction and all this kind of stuff.”“STEFAN MOLYNEUX,” Southern Poverty Law Center, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/stefan-molyneux.

May 28, 2016

In a YouTube interview on genetics and crime:

“One of the biggest questions in America is ethnic crime rates...and y’know the [Asians] are the model minority…[while] the American blacks and blacks around the world have truly shockingly high levels of criminality and the general explanation is y’know slavery plus racism plus poverty, whatever it is which creates this unholy brew...but as far as I understand it there are significant contributions that your field can make to help people untangle [why] there are such differences in ethnic positive and negative behaviors in society...American blacks have roughly a standard IQ below whites.”“STEFAN MOLYNEUX,” Southern Poverty Law Center, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/stefan-molyneux.

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