• Anyolduser@lemmynsfw.com
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      8 months ago

      4 chan started a prank saying that the ok sign was actually spelling out “WP” meaning “white power”.

      The ADL and a bunch of news agencies bought it hook, line, and sinker. Pretty quickly scuba divers, anyone who has been a teenage boy in the past few decades, and really just anyone with a pulse and a brain cell pointed out how ridiculous it would be to believe that.

      Some of the groups that got tricked (the ADL most notably) doubled down instead of admitting that they got got. They found like one fringe neo-nazi group that started doing it (probably after seeing it on 4 chan) and insisted “SeE? RaCiSt Dog whistle!”.

      There’s nothing wrong with the “OK” sign. It’s perfectly innocent.

      • Wetstew@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        It started as a prank, but now fascists unironically use the ok sign.

        It’s a dog whistle. They use something innocent to signal to others in their ingroup, and call people stupid when they call them out on it.

        • Anyolduser@lemmynsfw.com
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          8 months ago

          That’s a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy. They only use it because CNN and the ADL wouldn’t backtrack, thus giving their claims validity after the fact.

          We, the public, can stop that bullshit in it’s tracks by rejecting the whole premise and insisting on the actual, innocent meaning of the gesture.

    • dephyre@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      This might give some info.

      Oren Segal, director of the ADL’s Center on Extremism, told NPR that for years on fringe online message boards such as 4chan and 8chan, the “OK” sign has been deployed in memes and other images promoting hate. Given the number of white supremacists who have adopted it, he said it can now carry a nefarious message.