Triple parentheses
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The use of triple parentheses[note 1] to identify individuals of perceived Jewish ancestry or persuasion emerged in 2016 as an online dog whistle, employed by white nationalists, Neo-Nazis, anti-semites, and followers of the so-called alt-right to single out targets for online harassment.[1]
Their use originates from a podcast produced by white nationalist blog The Right Stuff, in which Jewish names were spoken with an echo effect, meant to symbolize the actions of Jews that have "echo[ed] throughout history."[2] Ironically (or astoundingly), the founder of The Right Stuff was eventually doxed by fellow-neo-Nazis who revealed that his wife is a Jew.[2][3]
The triple parentheses are meant to represent the echo sound visually and are therefore sometimes referred to as an (((echo))). The triple parentheses have been used to harass and intimidate Jews and others with Jewish-sounding surnames
on social media, and were used by self-avowed supporters of Donald Trump's presidential campaign to target and harass those of perceived Jewish extraction opposed to Trump's candidacy.[4]
Because most social media platforms' search algorithms disregard punctuation, the echo is difficult to ban outright. Despite pledges from Twitter, Facebook, Microsoft, and Google to crack down on online hate speech, use of the echo mark has proliferated. A Google Chrome extension known as the "Coincidence Detector," which added the triple parentheses to a list of common Jewish names, was briefly available and reached more than 2,500 downloads, but it was removed by Google in early June 2016 for violating the company's hate-speech policy.[4]
In June 2016, the Anti-Defamation League recognised triple parentheses as a form of hate speech.[5]
The motif has been adopted as an ironic self-identifier by some Jews and other anti-racists. According to tweets by WikiLeaks, which were subsequently deleted when they sparked outrage, this usage is a "tribalist symbol for establishment climbers" or a "virtue signal" co-opted by "neo-liberal castle creepers".[6]
On occasion, one may find anti-semites using reverse-triple parentheses to identify themselves and others as anti-semites: e.g., ")))Goyim(((".[7]
See also[edit]
- Alt-right glossary, if you feel like a journey into the Nine Circles of Nazism.
Notes[edit]
- ↑ Like this: (((Someone's Name)))
References[edit]
- ↑ Hess, Amanda (10 June 2016). "For the Alt-Right, the Message Is in the Punctuation". Retrieved 15 June 2016.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Fleishman, Cooper; Smith, Anthony (1 June 2016). "(((Echoes))), Exposed: The Secret Symbol Neo-Nazis Use to Target Jews Online". Mic. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
- ↑ "Mike Peinovich Unmasked As Leader of "The Right Stuff"". It's Going Down. January 14, 2017.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "There’s a Google Chrome Extension Used to Track and Expose ‘Anti-White’ Jews". Retrieved 7 June 2016.
- ↑ Anti-Defamation League press release: "ADL to Add (((Echo))) Symbol, Used by anti-semites on Twitter, to Online Hate Symbols Database". June 6, 2016.
- ↑ "Wikileaks denies anti-Semitism over (((echoes))) tweet". The Daily Dot. July 24, 2016.
- ↑ ")))Slavic Son(((". Twitter. (archived on 22 Feb 2020 17:16:43 UTC).