BLACK LIVES MATTER

White People Keep Using the #BlackLivesMatter Hashtag to Troll Activists

How cyberbullying threatens the movement

“Users of 4chan made several highly trafficked posts with links to dozens of Black Lives Matter channels on Telegram, a privacy-oriented, encrypted messaging app that has been used for organizing protests across the country. Users on 4chan encouraged others to post disinformation in the groups, find “incriminating” information that they can pass to law enforcement, and trawl the channels for as much personal, identifying, and organizational information as they can about people in the groups, according to Mother Jones.

Since 2012, Black people have used the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag to raise awareness about racial inequities. As a Millenial, I used Twitter to keep up with local friends and like-minded people from afar. Years ago, political pundits claimed, “Twitter was not real news.” Yet, to us, Twitter became the official message board for disseminating information across different cities, states, and even countries.

The first #BlackLivesMatter postings highlighted brutal injustices, not for the faint of heart. The hashtag provided an activist component of #BlackTwitter. There, we could address inequities. I remember seeing Emmett Till’s face. He…