Pepe the Frog cartoon added to online hate symbol database
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has officially declared the Pepe the Frog cartoon a hate symbol.
The internet meme, created by cartoonist Matt Furie back in 2005, has recently been adopted by neo-Nazis and currently serves as an icon of the white nationalist alt-right movement.
As a result, on Wednesday, the white supremacist-related image of the green frog with red lips, which has been heavily linked to Donald Trump's presidential campaign this year, was dubbed an "online hate symbol" by the ADL.
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In a press release, the ADL identified the image as a cartoon character "used by haters on social media to suggest racist, anti-Semitic or other bigoted notions, as a hate symbol."
Though the image did not originally represent hateful views, it eventually evolved into depictions of the frog portrayed with a "Hitler-like moustache, wearing a yarmulke or a Klan hood."
The decision comes just two weeks after Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr. Instagrammed a photoshopped picture of Pepe the Frog standing alongside himself and other Trump campaign figures. In response to the photograph, the Hillary Clinton campaign posted an article explaining how Donald Trump's identification with Pepe should raise concern about his involvement with the white supremacist movement.
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“Once again, racists and haters have taken a popular internet meme and twisted it for their own purposes of spreading bigotry and harassing users,” Jonathan A. Greenblatt, the CEO of ADL said in the release. "These anti-Semites have no shame. They are abusing the image of a cartoon character, one that might at first seem appealing, to harass and spread hatred on social media."
The "Hate on Display" database, which was formed back in 2000 to track hate groups and aid law enforcement, also includes the (((echo))) symbol after those associated with the alt right movement began using it to call out Jewish journalists on social media.