About

Harmful Extremist Content refers to ironic memes and parodies about posting or being exposed to "harmful extremist content" online. The phrase was coined most notably in mid-2021 after Facebook took measures to reduce extremist content on its platform, alerting some of its users with a pop-up message that told them they might have been exposed. Memes using the concept were made in abundance going into the rest of July 2021 into early 2022.

Origin

In June 2017, the phrase "harmful extremist content" became prominent due to the government of Germany passing a law that would fine social media companies up to $57 million for failing to remove harmful and extremist content.^[4] Four years later, in March 2021, social media executives like Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey were called to testify in front of Congress regarding harmful extremist content being shared on their platforms. Mark Zuckerberg's Congressional hearings, in particular, led to multiple memes.

However, on July 1st, 2021, the term was most notably used after all Facebook users received a pop-up message telling them, "All of us may have been exposed to harmful extremist content recently," in regards to the growing concerns of fake news on the website, stemming from Facebook's 2016 fake news controversy, as well as the 2021 uptick in QAnon content.

The message surprised many users, who largely saw the announcement as both cringeworthy and unnecessary. For instance, on July 1st, 2021, the Facebook^[1] page of the Libertarian Party of Texas posted a screenshot of the pop-up alert, receiving roughly 2,400 reactions and 2,100 shares for it over the course of six months (shown below, left). Other users received personalized alerts, like Instagram's pincusrob,^[2] who posted an example of his personalized pop-up on July 1st, earning over 700 likes (shown below, right).

Spread

The first meme to use the reference was posted by Facebook^[3] page Memes of Liberty on July 1st, 2021. The meme used the Well, Of Course I Know Him. He's Me format from when Obi-Wan Kenobi says the line in Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope. In six months, the Facebook post received over 150 likes (shown below).

Instagram^[4] page operationbutthurt was the second meme creator to produce an image macro referencing harmful extremist content. Their meme used a Jean-Luc Picard format from Star Trek, earning over 200 likes in six months (shown below).

A lot of memes within the trend related to the meme creator actually being the harmful extremist content mentioned, like two memes posted to Facebook^[5][6] on July 1st that each received over 1,000 reactions (shown below).

Overall, most of the memes were posted in July 2021, like Facebook^[7] page Uncle Joe's Katyusha garage and yeetery, who posted a meme that referenced the Breaking Bad quote I Am The One Who Knocks, earning 69 reactions over six months (shown below).

Other memes referenced the He Just Nut In Me And Started Playing format, like Facebook^[8] page Images that’ll send you straight to hell, who posted a meme on July 3rd that received roughly 1,700 reactions over six months (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References