Parents, have you heard about “Groypers”? A Concern Every Parents, Caregiver, and Educator Should Be Aware Of!
- The White Hatter
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
Groypers are an online movement within the far right that mixes trolling, conspiratorial talk, recruitment, and a modern variation of the “Pepe the Frog” meme which has been co-opted by this group. (1) Members, who appears to be closely aligned with US White Nationalist Nick Fuentes (2), use memes, joking language, and provocations to normalize extreme or exclusionary ideas. (3) They show up on social platforms, comment sections, forums, livestream chats, and gaming communities. The recruitment process is usually informal, where mockery, inside jokes, and shared memes serve as a gateway to more explicit radicalized content.
Two features make this movement effective at reaching young people:
It feels like humour and community at first. Memes lower the bar for participation.
It hides political messages inside irony and private-group language, which makes it harder for outsiders to spot immediately.
Groypers do not stay in one corner of the internet. You will often see their activity in the comment sections beneath right-leaning influencers or political videos. These threads can act like echo chambers where provocative comments get boosted, replies escalate quickly, and a fringe idea looks more mainstream because of the volume and tone of replies.
The Groyper movement also gather on message boards, alternative social apps, and in private Discord or Telegram servers. Those spaces give members room to trade memes, plan reactions, and move conversations from public to private. When discussions shift behind closed doors, the content can become more extreme and recruitment more targeted.
Gaming chats and live-stream chat rooms are another common venue. Fast-moving, joke-heavy chats create the perfect cover for pushing borderline material. What begins as competitive banter can easily slide into coordinated mockery or exclusionary slang that newcomers are encouraged to adopt.
Youth and teens will also encounter them on meme pages and reposting channels on mainstream platforms. A harmless looking image can carry a coded message, and reposts amplify inside jokes until they feel normal. When a meme becomes a recurring idea across a child’s feed, it is doing cultural work beyond simple entertainment.
Groypers often promote the idea that democracy is either broken beyond repair or effectively dead. They frame traditional democratic processes such as voting, government institutions, media, and even schools, as corrupt systems that no longer serve “the people.” This belief feeds a sense of urgency and resentment, convincing followers that working within the system is pointless.
Instead, their goal is to discredit and dismantle these institutions, replacing them with something more aligned to their own ideology. For some, that means pushing for authoritarian structures or a return to a narrow vision of society rooted in exclusion and hierarchy. For others, it is less about building a new system and more about tearing down what exists.
To accomplish this, groypers use disruption as a tactic. They may flood public comment sections, troll at political events, or target educators and journalists to create distrust. It should be noted that the Groyper movement did not agree with, and targeted, Charlie Kirk’s movement “Turning Point USA”. Their strategy is not only about spreading their worldview, but also about exhausting and weakening the credibility of democratic institutions themselves.
So why does this matter to parents, caregivers, and educators?
The danger is that these narratives can sound persuasive to “some” young people who already feel disillusioned, unheard, or alienated - sound familiar? When a teen is told that “everything is rigged,” it can be appealing to join a group that offers clear enemies and a sense of belonging. Recognizing this mindset early, and teaching kids how to evaluate claims critically, can help protect them from being drawn into a worldview built on cynicism and destruction rather than constructive change.
Young people are forming social and political identities online. Exposure to hateful or conspiratorial content can:
Shift peer norms about what is acceptable to say and share:
Online groups can quietly reset what’s considered normal. When members repeatedly laugh at or upvote a hostile joke, that behaviour becomes a social currency. Over time, language that once would have been embarrassing or off limits becomes a routine part of conversation.
Signs to watch for: your child repeats the same jokes or catchphrases from an online group, uses language that seems out of step with their usual values, or defends harmful posts as “just a joke.”
What to do: ask where the jokes come from and what they mean. Treat the conversation as curiosity rather than accusation. Talk through real-world consequences of reshared posts, such as school discipline or damaged friendships, so your child sees how online language moves into everyday life.
Normalize hostility toward certain groups
Groups that cultivate a sense of us versus them make it easier to dehumanize people. Memes and inside jokes can carry subtle messages that encourage contempt for specific ethnicities, religions, genders, or other groups. Over time, constant exposure reduces empathy and raises the chance of targeting others.
Signs to watch for: repeated negative comments about a particular group, sudden intolerance in your child’s speech or online interactions, or a pattern of “us versus them” thinking.
What to do: name the harm calmly and use examples. Ask how a target of those jokes might feel. Encourage empathy by pointing out individual stories that humanize people who are being mocked. Model respectful language in family conversations so children see alternatives.
Encourage secrecy and isolation when young people seek approval from online peers instead of family
Approval from an online community can feel immediate and intense. If that approval becomes more important than family relationships, kids will hide accounts, change privacy settings, or avoid family activities to stay connected. Isolation makes it harder for adults to notice red flags and intervene early.
Signs to watch for: new private accounts, sudden refusal to let you see their screen, lying about time spent online, or withdrawing from family routines.
What to do: keep routines that include shared tech time, such as family check ins where devices are put in a visible place. Make clear rules about privacy while offering compromises, like occasional supervised access to new platforms. Reinforce that you want to understand their friendships, not punish them for having them.
Lead to real world harm if rhetoric escalates into harassment or targeted actions
What starts as online banter can escalate into doxxing, threats, coordinated harassment, or even real-world confrontation. The anonymity and distance of online spaces can remove normal inhibitions, making it easier for a group to organize harmful acts.
Signs to watch for: messages encouraging risky behaviour, talk of “getting” someone, sharing personal details about others, or attempts to organize meetups without adult knowledge.
What to do: preserve evidence and report serious behaviour to the platform and school. If threats or harassment are present, involve school officials and law enforcement when necessary. Seek professional help if your child is both a target or a participant in escalating behaviour.
Early, calm intervention reduces harm. Most young people who see extreme content do not become radicalized, but some become more comfortable with risky or harmful ideas.
Keep in mind many of these signs also overlap with normal teenage behaviour. The difference is the specific content and how it shapes attitudes toward others.
If you do observe any of the above noted signs, when you bring this topic up with your child, start from a place of curiosity rather than accusation. Youth and teens are far more likely to open up if they feel you want to understand them instead of correct them. For example, you might say, “I noticed you’ve been using words I don’t know. What do they mean to you?” This lets them explain in their own terms and shows you’re interested in their world.
Another approach is to ask about who they interact with online and what they enjoy. A simple question like, “Who are you talking with online? I’d like to understand what you find funny or interesting,” can invite them to share without feeling judged. By framing the question around your curiosity, you create space for them to talk openly.
It also helps to connect online behaviour to real world impact. You could say, “Some memes hide messages that hurt real people. What do you think about that?” This encourages them to reflect critically, while still making it clear that you trust their ability to think it through.
Most importantly, reinforce that they can come to you if something crosses a line. A gentle prompt like, “If someone asked you to do something online that made you uncomfortable, would you tell me?” reminds them you’re a safe person to turn to.
The key is to avoid shaming or lecturing. Teens often shut down if they feel they’re being talked at instead of talked with. The goal is to keep conversations open so that if they do encounter troubling ideas or situations online, they feel comfortable coming to you first.
The goal is to encourage your child to recognize the difference between a private joke among friends and content that causes harm to others. By framing questions around what they notice and think, rather than what you believe, you empower them to develop critical thinking skills they will carry into future online experiences.
The onlife world will always have groups that push extreme messages, but most families reduce risk with curiosity, clear boundaries, and constructive conversations. You do not need to be an expert to protect your child, just be their best parent or caregiver. Start by asking questions, listening without judgement, and helping them build the skills to tell truth from trolling, and read articles like this to help provide you with a knowledge base to start from.
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The White Hatter
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