• RubberDuck
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      530 days ago

      Pepe to me seems like the opposite of the Confederate flag.

      Pepe is an internet meme that is in some cases used by racist and hateful people to carry their message, but the primary function is internet nonsense.

      The Confederate flag is a symbol or hate and oppression that in some situations is used to express country & westerns ideals of freedom and roaming the country with not a care in the world… without the racist subtext… however you cannot deny the basis of its use and thus should not use it.

      • DarkThoughts
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        229 days ago

        Some cases is an understatement. Ever since The_Donald and Kekistan, Pepe has become a hate symbol due to the wide adoption by far right trolls. Pepe might’ve never meant to be that, but neither was the Swastika or the roman salute, or other symbols that the Nazis adopted for themselves. The more pressing issue is that you should really not give people on Steam the benefit of the doubt of arguing in good faith. The whole gamergate movement is alive and well there.

      • thermal_shock
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        229 days ago

        was going to say the same thing, pepe is internet nonsense, but didn’t have the words.

        • RubberDuck
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          129 days ago

          That’s why these conversations are so cool. It helps all of us give words to some of the things we cannot express properly. Why I also enjoy reading co tributuins by others… especially if they challenge my preconceptions.

    • @vonbaronhans@midwest.social
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      29 days ago

      Iirc, when the ADL put out their guidance on Pepe, it was during the 2016 election when Pepe was being actively coopted by alt-rightera and neo Nazis. One of those "take something innocuous and poison it by using it as a pseudo secret signal to other bigots.

      I vaguely recall them saying that Pepe was a hate symbol only insofar as it was being used for that purpose. I wonder if that changed, or if this investigation is ignoring that nuance to hamfist a “hate speech” argument.