(((Echoes))), Exposed: The Secret Symbol Neo-Nazis Use to Target Jews Online
(((Echoes))), Exposed: The Secret Symbol Neo-Nazis Use to Target Jews Online
In the early days of the social web, putting someone's name in multiple parentheses was meant to give that person a cute virtual hug. Today, it's something far more sinister.
Neo-Nazis, anti-Semites and white nationalists have begun using three sets of parentheses encasing a Jewish surname for instance, (((Fleishman))) to identify and target Jews for harassment on blogs and major social media sites like Twitter. As one white supremacist tweeted, "It's closed captioning for the Jew-blind."
Jonathan Weisman, deputy Washington editor for the New York Times, wrote about his experience as a victim of this harassment in a May 26 story.
"Hello ((Weisman))" it began after Weisman tweeted a Washington Post article about Donald Trump titled "This Is How Fascism Comes to America."
Weisman asked his harasser, @CyberTrump, to explain the symbol. "It's a dog whistle, fool," the user responded. "Belling the cat for my fellow goyim."
You know, I'd like to think that I can not be surprised.
But I can be.