Thread by @bellingcat

In a matter of weeks, the term “White Boy Summer” has gone from a seemingly innocent, mainstream internet fad to a viral meme among neo-Nazis and white supremacists with potentially dangerous consequences

New from @IwriteOK and @hungrybowtie bellingcat.com/news/2021/07/0…

@IwriteOK @hungrybowtie The phrase ‘White Boy Summer’ originates from a viral Instagram video posted by the actor and rapper, Chet Hanks in March. There appears to be nothing racist or political about Hanks’ use of the phrase.

But the term has been adopted by the extreme far-right in the months since

@IwriteOK @hungrybowtie Versions of the far-right’s dark subversion of the WBS meme have traveled from 4chan and encrypted messaging service Telegram, to more popular social media apps like TikTok where Bellingcat found one video featuring Nazi iconography that had been viewed more than 10k times.

@IwriteOK @hungrybowtie Other far-right WBS memes have been found on Instagram and Twitter as well, alongside some far less extreme WBS content

@IwriteOK @hungrybowtie Far-right entertainer, Nick Fuentes, has also utilised the term on a number of occasions and is currently partaking in a “White Boy Summer” road trip across the US.

@IwriteOK @hungrybowtie Fuentes created headlines earlier this week when he announced he would be meeting with congressman Paul Gosar of Arizona as part of this tour, although Gosar has since said he had no idea about the apparent event

@IwriteOK @hungrybowtie Fuentes has not used the more extreme, racist and violent imagery visible in some WBS memes when posting on the topic.

However, he has previously appeared to deny the Holocaust

@IwriteOK @hungrybowtie The more extreme WBS memes often include the same radical imagery first seen in 8chan posts geared towards inspiring terrorist attacks in imitation of the Christchurch shooting. Shootings in El Paso, Texas, Poway, California and Halle, Germany were all birthed from this community

@IwriteOK @hungrybowtie One post made to a dedicated White Boy Summer channel on Telegram showed show several clips from a movie about Anders Breivik’s 2011 attack on a youth camp in Utøya, Norway, which killed 77 people.

@IwriteOK @hungrybowtie Others posted to social media sites like Instagram and tagged WBS showed less violence but contained clear Nazi symbols and iconography

@IwriteOK @hungrybowtie The fact that such extreme content appears visible on mainstream platforms suggests there is the worrying potential for more moderate users to be exposed to radical and extremist propaganda

@IwriteOK @hungrybowtie Read the full piece here: bellingcat.com/news/2021/07/0…