The BBC reports that Google is adding a plug-in that bans
Internet users from picking out Jews.
The story? “Google has banned an
extension of its Chrome browser which was being used to identify Jewish names
on the internet by surrounding them with three sets of brackets, or
parentheses. Those identified were then subjected to anti-semitic abuse via
social media. The symbol has been described as a secret signal because
punctuation does not show up in ordinary web searches. Google said that the
extension was blocked from its store because it broke its hate speech rules.”
How does this work? “The extension was developed by a
far-right group called alt-right. It had around 2,500 users and a database of
8,800 common Jewish names which it could pick out on websites reported tech
site Mic. The symbol stems from a right-wing group called the Right Stuff, who
told Mic it was ‘a critique of Jewish power.’”
Was there a victim? “Jonathan Weisman, deputy Washington
editor of the New York Times, wrote about his experience of receiving a tweet
with his name wrapped around with brackets. When he asked what it meant the tweeter
replied that he was "belling the cat." "The anti-Semitic hate hasn't stopped since," wrote Mr. Weisman, who has now altered his name on Twitter to include the
brackets himself. Others are doing the same in support. "Nobody's telling
us to self-identify. We are showing strength and fearlessness," he tweeted
in response to a journalist who said it made her uncomfortable. He also said
that much of the hate appeared to come with "self-identified Donald J
Trump supporters" - and many had Twitter names which included the US
presidential candidate's name.
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