When Labels Obscure, Not Reveal
THE ACTORS: Who defines 'terrorist'? Brenton Tarrant, the Australian white nationalist responsible for the murder of 51 Muslim worshippers (Independent, 2026), now seeks to control his designation. His lawyers argued that the court's prior use of 'mass murderer' or 'extremist' was 'inaccurate.' This seemingly minor linguistic preference reveals a larger struggle over framing. Governments and media
outlets frequently deploy 'terrorist' to describe non-state actors, particularly those from specific geopolitical regions or religious affiliations, while often reserving terms like 'extremist' or 'lone wolf' for perpetrators who share demographic characteristics with the dominant power structure (Greenwald, 2013). For example, the 2011 Norway attacker, Anders Breivik, who killed 77, was almost
universally described as an 'extremist' despite his explicit political motivations. THE FUNDING: The Cost of Narratives The propagation of certain labels is not accidental. 'Terrorism' has been a foundational concept for the approximately $8 trillion 'War on Terror' (Brown University Costs of War Project, 2023) launched after 9/11. This war primarily targeted groups in the Middle East and South
Asia, not white supremacist organizations, despite their documented rising threat in Western nations. A 2020 UN report indicated that far-right extremism was the fastest growing threat globally, with attacks increasing by 320% in the West over the preceding five years (UN, 2020). THE INCENTIVES: Why the Shooter Wants the Label, and Why States Avoid It for Some Tarrant understands the symbolic