Thread by @ECMcLaughlin

One other thing here about this situation that caused me to lock my account:

I noticed a pattern in the attacks on my kids and l, namely the repeated claim that “that didn’t happen” paired with a violent threat, re: a tweet about my kid celebrating impeachment.

Keep reading.

I’ve since learned there’s an entire “didn’t happen” online culture in the alt-right, inciting violent attacks online, around the reported experiences of activists, women, LGBTQ folks, faith leaders, *kids* and others.

This “didn’t happen” culture is organized to attack people for tweeting life events that are in some way anti-Trump, anti-Brexit, or otherwise reflective of day to day experiences that expose sexism, racism and homophobia.

One example is this massive account found at @_DHOTYA.

It stands for, wait for it, “Didn’t Happen of the Year Awards.”

Followers of the account submit tweets they read of real life experiences of people like you & me that reflect systemic oppression in real life— like a kid recognizing sexism in a movie— and the account retweets it.

Hundreds of thousands of followers then go off and threaten the author with doxxing, violence and verbal abuse, along with claims of “that didn’t happen.”

This is how my tweet got to that reporter at the Washington Examiner, and led to violent memes against my kids.

So why should you care about this— an entire culture set up to attack and deny real-world experiences documenting the harm of oppression, an entire culture set up to indoctrinate people into denying reality and attacking reality and the truth?

Here’s why:

Just last week, President Trump was impeached. That actually happened.

Last night, he stood up and said “I wasn’t impeached,” and people clapped.

Minutes later, followers online began repeated the talking point ad nauseum.

Here’s the thing: it may seem to some like it’s a small thing to deny the experiences of one person or a child online and engage in violent harassment online for entertainment.

But when you see what it prepares “didn’t happen” culture to deny on a larger scale: whew.

And a reminder: the constant assertions of “Fake News” and right wing propaganda built this culture.

Why? Because maintaining power, and particularly power that perpetrates harm on average citizens, depends on masses being willing to deny their own eyes and ears, and the truth.

This is how it becomes not much of a leap to deny the experiences of everyday people, and violently attacking them for reporting on them, to denying that the President was impeached.

And I’ll go one further:

In Nazi Germany, this kind of indoctrination was a part of what trained the masses to deny the reality of concentration camps taught average citizens to deny genocide, even when they could smell the burning flesh from the chimneys at the camp in their town.

So now we have this “didn’t happen and I’ll attack and abuse and harass you for saying it did” indoctrination in play with the mass scale amplification of social media.

Of course people will believe that Trump wasn’t impeached, and attack people for telling the truth that he was

What do you think is going to happen when he’s removed from office in impeachment or in 2020 and he says “that didn’t happen”?

What about when Stephen Miller moves forward with his obviously planned immigration-based genocide, and he and the President say “it’s not happening?”

How are we going to handle a cult indoctrinated segment of the population who have been unwittingly taught, through online radicalization, to attack anyone who tells a truth that implicates those in power with perpetrating harm?

Everyone who cares about democracy should care about this. It’s chilling.

And honestly, some crackerjack reporter needs to cover this in depth and get it out there so the rest of ya know how to recognize it.

It’s a sign of what’s to come, and it’s terrifying.

And with that, I’m unlocking my account so people can retweet this.

I may be inundated again, but so be it.

*the rest of us*

And I’ll add because it’s important: Alex Jones and the denial of Sandy Hook was an absolute flashpoint for this. If you’re willing to deny the murder of children for ratings and money, and indoctrinate those who follow you into doing the same, you’ll do anything.

I feel like @JaneMayerNYer may want to have a look at this.