""No one person owns a meme, they're a universal template," says Matthew Kriner, executive director of the Institute for Countering Digital Extremism. "We do not see a meme itself as an indication of what the ideology behind it is." This hasn't stopped people from attempting to use the memes as proof Robinson was part of a certain political groups. Some completely misunderstood the memes, such as the BBC's Mike Wendling, who suggested in a post"
"Sadly, Groypers aren't the only online groups that use the language and practices of memes to advocate and commit acts of political violence. As far-right movements have gained significant political power worldwide, the irony seems to have been replaced by nihilism. The past few years have seen new internet movements like the Com network and 764. These groups, made up largely of isolated underage people, are centered around criminal acts such as committing abusive, violent, and exploitative practices like sextortion"
Memes function as universal templates and do not reliably indicate the ideology of individuals who use them. Misattribution of memes has produced false links between people and political groups, including erroneous associations with Antifa and Groypers. Far-right political gains have coincided with a shift from ironic meme culture to nihilistic online movements. New networks such as the Com network and 764 consist largely of isolated, underage participants focused on abusive criminality—sextortion and other exploitative acts—aimed at sowing chaos and fear. The FBI classifies such groups as Nihilistic Violent Extremism (NVE), and radicalization increasingly appears as stochastic incidents designed to create disorder.
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