The Guardian covers news of the Combat 18 influenced RedWatch – a site dedicated to exposing anti-racist organizers and other leftists in Britain.
The Guardian publicizes a liberal and not all that honest perspective on the issue. The article states,
Sympathisers claim Redwatch is little more than an act of self-defence, insisting that they are only doing what anti-fascist campaigners who monitor the activities of rightwingers have been doing for years. But Lowles says this is a dangerous myth: “This is absolute rubbish. There is no anti-racist equivalent to this site. There is nothing that lists home details of fascists and certainly nothing that encourages attacks on them. Redwatch is not an act of revenge but something altogether more sinister. It is designed to intimidate and harass anti-racists and anti-fascists to the point where the individuals targeted no longer campaign against fascist groups. It is political intimidation and classic fascism.”
Reality is that some, although mainly the radical antifascists, have a long history of publicizing personal information on fascists – their home addresses, places they socialize, and their associates. It’s all a part of undermining and making it difficult for the fascists to operate due to the elevated risks for them.
While I do think that anti-fascist organizers need to take threats to themselves seriously, I think it is a mistake to campaign for the State to take on the work of shutting down sites like RedWatch. What’s to stop the State from shutting down radical Left and anti-fascist sites next… Uhhhhh, nothing.