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Richard Spencer was recently punched on camera: I cant do these things alone any more. Photograph: Spencer Selvidge/Reuters

The on-camera punching of Richard Spencer in DC last weekend launched a thousand memes. It also crystallized a moment of difficulty for the far-right movement whose name Spencer coined the alt-right.

It was a literal and figurative punch in the face, Spencer told the Guardian in a telephone conversation, adding that it would change his approach to public appearances. I didnt think of myself as someone who needs bodyguards, but I clearly do. Particularly at events an inauguration or an election. I just cant do these things alone any more. It wasnt like that six months ago, and it certainly wasnt like that five years ago.

Suddenly the far right is a target, and this is constraining the freedom of action that its leaders, like Spencer, once enjoyed.

In the wake of the election of Donald Trump, the movement has risen from relative obscurity to become a household political name. There has been voluminous coverage of Spencers views on race and white identity, which have been widely described as fascism.

This new prominence has led anti-fascist groups to focus on the movements leaders. Local activists targeted Spencers former base in Montana and in recent weeks, other prominent far-right bloggers, podcasters and YouTube personalities have been subject to doxxings: their real identities were revealed, with real-world consequences.

Just over a week ago, Mike Enoch, host of the podcast The Daily Shoah (whose title is a pun on the Holocaust) and operator of the website The Right Stuff, was revealed to be a New York-based tech worker named Mike Peinovich. The Right Stuff and its stable of podcasts were a major hub for promoting and popularising antisemitism and white supremacist theories of race. But the doxxing also revealed that Peinovichs wife was of a Jewish background.

I didnt think of myself as someone who needs bodyguards, but I clearly do

For segments of the movement, this counted as a scandal, despite the support Peinovich received from Spencer and others. Subsequently, one of his colleagues at The Right Stuff announced in a podcast that Peinovich had separated from his wife, and reportedly he has also lost what he described as his normie job.

Peinovich was the latest in a string of doxxings involving others connected with the website. Another YouTuber, Millennial Woes, was unmasked as 34-year-old Colin Robertson, which reportedly led him to flee his native Scotland.

Spencer confirmed that these tactics have had an effect. The doxxing is absolutely terrible and it does scare off a lot of people. I hate to say this but doxxing is a weapon, and it is a way of attacking people, and it often works.

These attacks occurred amid continuing infighting between the alt-light rightwing populists led by figures such as Milo Yiannopoulos and the mens rights blogger Mike Cernovich who have backed away from the white supremacy of the hard core, including Spencer.

Last weekend, Spencer was refused entry to the Deploraball, an event organised by Cernovich, entrepreneur Jeff Giesea and others in Washington DC. The Deploraball had been a source of conflict after Cernovich barred the far-right Twitter influencer Baked Alaska from the event after reports of his history of antisemitic remarks.

Talking with the Guardian via email, Cernovich explicitly distanced himself from the movement, saying I am not alt-right. Its fake news to say otherwise. On Spencers exclusion from the event, he said: The alt-right wants to be invited to my parties; I dont go to theirs. That says it all.

Indeed, since Trump disavowed Spencers infamous conference which culminated in fascist salutes, figures like Cernovich and Giesea have tried to channel the energy of Trumps online supporters into mounting a nationalist, populist challenge to the Republican party establishment.

Cernovich told the Guardian that the Deploraball was a statement of intent, describing it as a party to reward those who made Trumps election possible. It was also saber rattling If the GOP opposes Trump, well vote them out of Congress. We have the will to win and we do not like the globalist wing. We are too big to ignore.

Asked about these ructions, Spencer said: Theres always infighting in movements. You get bad apples in movements and all they do is infight. I just take steps to avoid it, stay above it, and not get pulled into it.

Matthew N Lyons, a longtime scholar of the far right and author of a forthcoming book on the alt-right, agrees that the movement is facing a difficult moment.

I hate to say this but doxxing is a weapon, and it is a way of attacking people, and it often works

Theres been real disagreement between the alt-right and some of its sympathisers. The brouhaha over fascist salutes at the NPI conference was an example of that. Some people were critical of Spencer for making the alt-right look bad, especially figures on the alt-light, he said. The disagreements over tactics and ideology is to some extent coming more out into the open. Its likely those tensions will continue.

But Lyons said the fact that they were on the back foot was largely a testament to the effectiveness of anti-fascist tactics. He said doxxing does certainly constrain their freedom of action in the sense that it makes them more cautious. Mike Peinovich did not want his name to be made public because of work and personal considerations. Thats clearly an example where doxxing weakened the movement.

But is violence a legitimate tactic? The far right have, again and again, shown that they are quite ready to use violence, and more likely to use it against those who they see as vulnerable. If they see that people are prepared to defend themselves, in many cases they back off.

Lyons, who describes himself as an anti-fascist, sees no reason for complacency. I dont want to glorify force, but I think it is appropriate to organize to defend communities under attack.

He also warns against placing too much stock in Trumps disavowals. Whether or not they stay on good terms with Trump, they can still have an influence on the administration, because they have shown that they communicate effectively with a significant part of Trumps base.

Richard Spencer is also well aware of this. Last week he launched a new, collaborative website, altright.com, which is intended as a more populist, big tent channel for the movements ideas than previous, more esoteric sites. It is run out of premises in Washington DC which are shared with Arktos, a far-right publisher.

Ultimately, it will be a Breitbart-style site with a lot of different voices and a lot of people, he said. The aim is to bring more people into the movement, and to create a network on the far right.

Everyone in the leadership of altright.com is open and you cant stalk them. I can totally understand why people dont use their real name or face because they want to protect their family and their career and their livelihood.

He paused, and then added: Were not going to become a mainstream movement unless we show our face.

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The weakening of the 'alt-right': how infighting and doxxing are taking a toll - The Guardian