Thread by @GSpellchecker

1. Ok, so a brief thread on the problem of disconnect, labels and laziness. I was at the #DayForFreedom event on Sunday. I spotted a young man with a #MAGA cap & a #Kekistan flag. I decided to go and speak to him (like what journalists used to do)

2. Here he explains that he doesn't know much about Trump, but loves the way Trump annoys the left and wants to get in on it. Not big, or clever, but fine. I ask him about the 'Nazi' connotations of his flag and he explains it is satire.

3. I mention the risk of people seeing images of this flag/hat online and writing it off as white nationalist/Nazi. I come on Twitter, and what do I see? This from @hopenothate

4. 'Alt-right' is only used in this context to mean 'white supremacist'. So, a young man who doesn't subscribe to this ideology has been denigrated from afar by @hopenothate, falling perfectly into his 'trigger the lefties' trap. #AfarRight

5. There is any ignorance, or an unwillingness to understand this growing "shitposting/meme" culture that is rife in the young adult demographic. Their antipathy towards the prevailing system & PC culture is palpable. You can't deal with this problem with false labels from afar

6. I think this whole dedication to 'triggering' people is fairly tawdry and a genuine problem in its own right. It doesn't help much as far as I can see. I'm not advocating it, I'm simply saying recognise it for what it is & report the actual truth, rather than screaming "bigot"

7. You can watch my full coverage of the #DayForFreedom here

The Day For Freedom May 2018: youtube.com/playlist?list=…

8. Given this thread on the #Kekistan flag has triggered a handful of people, I can't resist the temptation to expand on it with even more inconvenient evidence. Standby

9. Check out this deeply illiberal, alt-right Nazi with the #Kekistan flag

10. Another fascist espousing hateful views with his Kekistan flag...

11. Listen to the hateful views espoused by this guy...

12. I've lost count of the number of conversations I've had like this. There's definitely something going on here, but what's clear to me is that it can't accurately be summarised by pointing and saying "racist" from afar.

13. I had no dog in this fight. I don't identify with 'meme culture' or 'shitposting'. It's not for me. However given what I'd seen online I fully expected to be confronted by white nationalist ideology when I confronted these people

14. I actually would have loved that. Getting to argue with a white nationalist on camera would have earned me much praise and clicks. But I can't report to you what didn't happen, can I?