OK SYMBOL

In 2017, users on 4chan created “Operation O-KKK,” a trolling campaign intended to convince the liberal media that the ok sign (👌 ) was a white power symbol. ¹ The association of the symbol to white power derives from the trolls’ assertion that the three fingers of the hand sign resemble a “W” and the touching thumb and index finger resemble a “P,” which together stand for white power. Users on 4chan's /pol/ ("Politically Incorrect") board were instructed to flood the Internet with images linking the sign to white power, and trolls appropriated images of public figures making the hand symbol as proof that it was catching on. ²

The purpose of the elaborate prank was to bait the liberal media into writing about it, which both gives the trolls attention and supports “the idea that journalists are oversensitive, easily triggered snowflakes.” ³ These trolling campaigns have the effect of creating in-groups and out-groups, a situation in which those in the in-group know it’s all a hoax and relish making those in the out-group look foolish.

However, the sign has taken on genuine white power connotations with several known white supremacists using the gesture. Brenton Tarrant, who killed 51 people in a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, flashed the symbol at a court appearance. ⁴ It is irrelevant whether white supremacists use the sign jokingly to mock the left or not; when extremists like Tarrant use the symbol, it takes on an entirely new meaning. The Anti-Defamation League added the sign to their Hate on Display database in 2019 as a hate symbol. However, the sign still remains ambiguous in its meaning because for most, it still just means “okay.” This can have devastating consequences if misconstrued. Since 2017, many people have been falsely accused of being racist or white supremacist for using the “okay” gesture in its traditional sense, ⁵ demonstrating the power of a trolling campaign in transforming an innocuous, nearly universal sign into a confusing symbol of hate.