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KYM Review: Hoaxes of 2018
Editor’s Note: This article is part of Know Your Meme’s annual review series looking back at some of the most memorable and popular memes, events and people that defined internet culture in 2018 as we know it.
T
he internet has an impressive talent for bending and twisting the very fabric of reality, facilitating the spread of false or misleading information far and wide around the globe. As misinformation has continued to proliferate, many have ramped up efforts to curtail its propagation online.
Photoshopped images have remained a popular hoax medium, but with the emergence of deepfakes, which contain disturbingly convincing face swaps made with machine learning algorithms, even video has become suspect. Who knows what new technologies remain just around the corner?
In the realm of politics, misinformation is as present as ever, with both sides of the political divide accusing the other of "fake news." On 4chan /pol/ board, users launched numerous hoax campaigns in a neverending effort to "own the libs".
Without further adieu, take a cruise down memory lane as we go over all the rumors, bamboozles and other fake news that tried to fool the internet over the last year.
Ninja Died of Ligma
A death hoax claiming that Tyler "Ninja" Blevins died of the fictional disease "Ligma" used to setup the punchline "ligma balls."
- Duration: July 2018
- How It Started: In mid-July, Instagram user foster.roach reposted a photoshopped image of Ninja ascending to heaven, along with a message that Twitch streamer died of the "Ligma." Shortly after, fake news articles claiming Ninja died of the disease began circulated across the web, leading Twitch users to spam various Ligma jokes in chat channels.
- How It Unraveled: The hoax was widely covered by various news sites and by YouTuber PewDiePie.
#NoMenMidterms
A hashtag campaign calling for liberal men to abstain from voting in the 2018 midterm elections.
- Duration: July 2018 – November 2018
- How It Started: In mid-July, a thread was submitted to 4chan's /pol/ board about a hoax campaign calling for viewers to spread photoshopped images encouraging "liberal men" to abstain from voting in the 2018 midterm elections in the United States.
- How It Unraveled: Screenshots of the 4chan orchestrating the hoax were widely circulated online.
Train Selfie Hoax
A viral video showing an Indian man identified as "T. Siva" pointing a camera at himself while standing on a railroad in front of a train prior to dropping the phone as the train appears to hit him.
- Duration: January 2018
- How It Started: The video was uploaded to YouTube in late January, where it gathered hundreds of thousands of views.
- How It Unraveled: Journalist Nellutla Kavitha tweeted a video of several men teasing Siva for making the video.
Sokal Squared
A hoax orchestrated by Areo Magazine editor Helen Pluckrose, math doctorate James Lindsay and Portland State University assistant professor Peter Boghossian, who successfully submitted seven intentionally outlandish papers to various journals to see if they would be accepted for publication.
- Duration: May 2017 – October 2018
- How It Started: In May 2017, the journal Cogent Social Sciences arguing that penises should be considered "social constructs," which was revealed to be a hoax paper drafted by Lindsay and Berghossian.
- How It Unraveled: In early October, YouTuber Mike Nayna uploaded a short documentary about the hoax, which included interviews with Pluckrose, Lindsay and Berghossian.
#FreeBlackCoffee
A hoax featuring photoshopped Starbucks coupons falsely claiming to provide "1 free beverage" as an apology to African Americans.
>- Duration: April 2018
- How It Started: In mid-April, Twitter user Hotep Jesus posted a video of himself demanding a free coffee at a Starbucks as an apology for a controversy involving the arrest of two African American men at a Starbucks location in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Two days later, posts appeared on 4chan's /pol/ board encouraging the spread of fake Starbucks coupons for free coffees.
- How It Unraveled: That week, Snopes published an article revealing that the coupons were a hoax campaign.
#DroptheB
A hashtag campaign to exclude bi-sexuals from the initialism LGBT ostensibly in opposition to the concept of a gender binary.
- Duration: June 2018
- How It Started: In early June, posts encouraging the spread of #DropTheB images began appearing on 4chan's /pol/ board.
- How It Unraveled: Various Twitter users began posting warnings that #DropTheB was a troll campaign, along with screenshots from 4chan threads orchestrating the hoax.
#PitBullDropOff
A hashtag campaign urging people to euthanize pit bull dogs as a public safety measure.
- Duration: May 2018
- How It Started: In early May, Twitter user @BixterN tweeted the hashtag, claiming to have joined a "growing wave of activists" dropping the dogs off at kill shelters.
- How It Unraveled: That month, Snopes published an article about the campaign, identifying it as a hoax.
#TakeDownMilleBobbyBrown
A hashtag cataloguing a series of troll quotes and stories that are homophobic, Islamophobic, offensive and insensitive in nature falsely accredited to actress Millie Bobby Brown.
- Duration: November 2017 – June 2018
- How It Started: In mid-November, Twitter user @KelsFiona posted a tweet falsely accusing Millie Bobby Brown of asking her to remove her hijab at an airport.
- How It Unraveled: Several news sites covered the hashtag campaign, including Babe.net and Popbuzz.
Dr. Phil Treasure Controversy
An episode of Dr. Phil in which a black teenager named Treasure Richards claimed she was caucasian and hated black people.
- Duration: October 2018 – November 2018
- How It Started: In late October, the episode of Dr. Phil was broadcast, which was widely circulated on YouTube and Facebook.
- How It Unraveled: In an interview with Essence, Treasure's sister Nina accused her of being "fake" and that the Dr. Phil appearance was "just a disgusting attempt to become a meme."
Elves of Color
A mock news article that promotes the unsubstantiated rumor that the Amazon-produced. Lord of the Rings television series will include elves whose skin color is not white.
- Duration: November 2018
- How It Started: In early November, a 4chan user submitted a screenshot of the mock news article to the /tv/ board.
- How It Unraveled: The Daily Dot published an article about the hoax.
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