It is not Islam that threatens democracy, but the far right that attacks it from within
For years, Islam has been presented as a threat to democracy. This idea is practical: above all, it avoids looking at the real problem. While the finger is being pointed at a religion, it is in reality democratic values that are being attacked from within. By the extreme right, by political violence which is becoming commonplace, by tolerated ideological groups, by media propaganda and by attacks on justice. In the United States as in France, the facts are clear: the danger is the same.
This discourse gradually entered the public debate. It is repeated constantly, relayed everywhere, until it seems obvious to part of the population. Islam would be a political, cultural, even civilizational problem. But this vision is misleading. It distracts attention from what truly weakens democracy: the acceptance of authoritarian methods and the trivialization of ideologies that reject diversity, equality and checks and balances.
Democracy does not disappear suddenly. It slowly deteriorates: when justice is attacked, when the media become ideological tools, when fear is used to win votes and when certain citizens are treated as permanent suspects. None of this comes from a religion. On the other hand, this is all part of the strategies of the extreme right.
United States: neo-fascism in action, from political violence to the militia state
The American example is now impossible to ignore. Under the presidency of Donald Trumpdemocracy has been attacked head-on. Constant delegitimization of the press, repeated attacks against judges, lies established as a political method, and above all refusal to accept the verdict of the ballot box. The assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, was not an accident: it is the logical product of a discourse that prepares minds for political violence.
But neofascism is not expressed only in words. It translates into practices. The federal immigration police, Immigration and Customs Enforcementis one of the most striking examples. Under the cover of migration policy, ICE acted as a quasi-militia force: masked and armed agents, dawn raids, arbitrary arrests, separated families, detention centers denounced for serious human rights violations.
When a state institution acts in opacity, without real democratic control, by targeting populations based on identity criteria, we are no longer talking about security but domination. It’s a militia-state logic. Again, no religion involved. Only a power that accepts force as a mode of government.
France: neofascist militias, media propaganda and delegitimized justice
France is not a special case. In May 2025, nearly a thousand ultra-right activists marched in Paris at the call of May 9 Committee. This parade had all the features of a demonstration of militia force: formation in ranks, uniformity of clothing, hidden faces, hooded security guards, Celtic crosses, slogans inherited from the GUD, assumed neo-Nazi iconography. This march was authorized, while anti-fascist demonstrations were prohibited. The signal sent is serious: groups openly claiming to be neo-fascism can occupy public space, parade in quasi-paramilitary formation, without being worried. It’s not a detail. It’s a shift.
At the same time, part of the media landscape plays a central role in normalizing these ideas. CNews functions as a permanent echo chamber of identity obsessions: Islam is presented as a structural danger, fear maintained daily, nuance disqualified. It is no longer a question of informing, but of conditioning. On the political field, the National gathering And Eric Zemmour thrive in this climate. Their strategy is known: designate internal enemies, oppose identity and equality, transform democracy into a permanent balance of power.
Criminalizing solidarity: Gaza as an authoritarian indicator
Another worrying marker of this drift is the growing criminalization of solidarity. In France, express support for the civilians of Gazadenouncing war crimes or calling for respect for international law now exposes people to prosecution, intimidation or defamation campaigns. Activists, artists, academics and ordinary citizens have been summoned or harassed not for calls for violence, but for having exercised a fundamental right: that of expressing oneself and expressing indignation.
This repression does not only come from institutions. It is also fueled by highly organized activist networks, sometimes linked to the Israeli far right, which act in France to silence all criticism. Abusive reports, pressure on employers, exploited accusations of anti-Semitism, coordinated campaigns on social networks: these methods aim to intimidate and dissuade.
The paradox is brutal. Those who claim to defend democracy and freedom of expression are often the first to call for censorship when speech is disturbing. Solidarity becomes suspect, compassion is seen as a threat, and political criticism is criminalized. This is a total inversion of democratic values.
When justice condemns, the extreme right tramples it
Another major symptom of this drift is the frontal attack on justice. When a political leader is convicted for cases, the reaction is almost always the same: we no longer discuss the facts, we discredit the judges.
Nicolas Sarkozypart of The Republicanslike the RN, denounce “politicized justice”, “relentlessness”, “charged justice”. This speech is extremely dangerous. It instills the idea that the law would only be valid when it protects the powerful, and questionable as soon as it overtakes them. Attacking justice because it does its job is attacking one of the fundamental pillars of democracy. This is a classic method of authoritarian regimes.
Democracy does not disappear because of religion. It disappears when fear is used to govern, when violence becomes normal, when armed groups – official or left alone – take the place of the law, when the media serve propaganda and when justice is attacked because it does its job. To accuse Islam is to miss the target. The real danger comes from an extreme right which is progressing in institutions, in the media and in the streets, and which dreams of limitless power. Democracy will not be protected by scapegoating. It will only survive thanks to lucidity, courage and firm defense of the rule of law. Everything else is just a distraction.
