The Right-Wing Disinformation Machine

[knapplc]

2 minutes ago, DevoHusker said:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/ct-life-ok-sign-racist-05282019-story.html

 

The short answer is that, starting in 2017, members of a discussion board called 4chan mounted one in a series of attempts to “troll” — or mock — liberals with a right-wing hoax, claiming that the OK sign was a symbol of white supremacy, according to Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow at the Anti-Defamation League. The idea was that “the libs” would take up the cry that the OK symbol was racist and, in so doing, make themselves look ridiculous.

 

Some news outlets took the bait, and the claim was repeated on social media, Pitcavage said. Soon more right-wing trolls joined the campaign, which was anti-liberal but not necessarily white supremacist. Then some actual white supremacists took up the OK sign, apparently still largely as a way to make fun of liberals. And finally, some white supremacists started using the sign without apparent irony, most famously the New Zealand mosque shooter, a self-described racist who killed 51 Muslim worshipers March 15.

 

So which came first again?

 

Per your article, right-wing trolls started it. The news reported on it. 

 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

 

[DevoHusker]

13 minutes ago, knapplc said:

 

Per your article, right-wing trolls started it. The news reported on it. 

 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

 

As a hoax to "own the libs"...

Co-opted after the media took the bait.

...from the same article...

[knapplc]

1 minute ago, DevoHusker said:

As a hoax to "own the libs"...

Co-opted after the media took the bait.

...from the same article...

 

So Fox News is innocent of having a conniption about the Obamas doing a fist bump because of this. 

 

Cool story. 

[Guy Chamberlin]

19 minutes ago, DevoHusker said:

As a hoax to "own the libs"...

Co-opted after the media took the bait.

...from the same article...

 

Yeah. I'm not sure this makes your case.

 

The equivalent would be Barack and Michelle Obama fist bumping on camera, then having a crew of anonymous social media supporters call it a "terrorist fist bump" to see if Fox News would take the bait, at which point the hoax would be revealed and Fox News would be embarrassed. But that's not what happened.

 

I cited this because it was one of Fox's most craven attempts, but they have a long and continuous history of stories that start with "people are saying......" when people actually aren't saying it; it's a rightwing narrative Fox invents and amplifies to distract from actual events and news. Outrage over Obama's beige suit was another good one.

 

Given that the 4Chan trolls delighted in co-opting the OK sign to the point where people willfully used it as intended, unaware of the hoax, doesn't really undermine the theory that there are a lot of racist pricks out there trading in racist messaging. 

[DevoHusker]

16 minutes ago, knapplc said:

 

So Fox News is innocent of having a conniption about the Obamas doing a fist bump because of this. 

 

Cool story. 

Never said that...

But I'll take anything that's cool today...

Whew it's hot

[DevoHusker]

47 minutes ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

 

Yeah. I'm not sure this makes your case.

 

 

Given that the 4Chan trolls delighted in co-opting the OK sign to the point where people willfully used it as intended, unaware of the hoax, doesn't really undermine the theory that there are a lot of racist pricks out there trading in racist messaging. 

 

I think it does, at least to a certain degree. I don't know that there are any absolutes regarding either wing of the media.

 

As to the bold, I certainly agree. 

[BigRedBuster]

1 hour ago, DevoHusker said:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/ct-life-ok-sign-racist-05282019-story.html

 

The short answer is that, starting in 2017, members of a discussion board called 4chan mounted one in a series of attempts to “troll” — or mock — liberals with a right-wing hoax, claiming that the OK sign was a symbol of white supremacy, according to Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow at the Anti-Defamation League. The idea was that “the libs” would take up the cry that the OK symbol was racist and, in so doing, make themselves look ridiculous.

 

Some news outlets took the bait, and the claim was repeated on social media, Pitcavage said. Soon more right-wing trolls joined the campaign, which was anti-liberal but not necessarily white supremacist. Then some actual white supremacists took up the OK sign, apparently still largely as a way to make fun of liberals. And finally, some white supremacists started using the sign without apparent irony, most famously the New Zealand mosque shooter, a self-described racist who killed 51 Muslim worshipers March 15.

 

So which came first again?

So...let me get this straight.

 

Right wing white supremacists thought it would be funny to troll liberals by creating a sign that they would use in photographs and making liberals think it's a sign for right wing white supremacists.  So.....then right wing white supremacists are seen in pictures making this sign to each other.

 

And....this is trolling liberals....how again?

[DevoHusker]

37 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

So...let me get this straight.

 

Right wing white supremacists thought it would be funny to troll liberals by creating a sign that they would use in photographs and making liberals think it's a sign for right wing white supremacists.  So.....then right wing white supremacists are seen in pictures making this sign to each other.

 

And....this is trolling liberals....how again?

 

They were trolls...not white supremacists...that started it.  And, you didn't get the time line quite right.

Some news outlets took the bait, and the claim was repeated on social media, Pitcavage said. Soon more right-wing trolls joined the campaign, which was anti-liberal but not necessarily white supremacist. Then some actual white supremacists took up the OK sign, apparently still largely as a way to make fun of liberals.

 

[BigRedBuster]

35 minutes ago, DevoHusker said:

Some news outlets took the bait, and the claim was repeated on social media, Pitcavage said. Soon more right-wing trolls joined the campaign, which was anti-liberal but not necessarily white supremacist. Then some actual white supremacists took up the OK sign, apparently still largely as a way to make fun of liberals.

So....A right wing group posted that this was the sign for white supremacist, white supremacists started using the sign.......and this is trolling liberals?

 

This is like if AOC said, giving the peace sign is a sign for socialists, then bernie starts using the peace sign and conservatives claim it's a sign for socialists....meanwhile, AOC was just trolling conservatives claiming the peace sign was a sign for socialists even though socialists are using the peace sign.

[Archy1221]

11 hours ago, knapplc said:

 

Sure it’s only right wing consultants complaint about the disaster that is CRT

 

 

[knapplc]

 

This dude is Candace Owens' brother. 

[Archy1221]

10 hours ago, knapplc said:

 

This dude is Candace Owens' brother. 

Who does he consult for 

[DevoHusker]

11 hours ago, knapplc said:

 

This dude is Candace Owens' brother. 

 

First I thought "well, can't he also be a concerned parent??" But the more I read, it looks like it was a definite set up.

Wow...the racist comments on those threads!  From other black folks!

[Guy Chamberlin]

I haven't read up on it, but I'm going to guess that Critical Race Theory is controversial and flawed, but probably a better starting point for the discussion than removing the word "slave" from Texas school books and replacing it with "workers." 

[ZRod]

11 hours ago, knapplc said:

 

This dude is Candace Owens' brother. 

This rant isn't even what critical race theory is about...