https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/05/26/4chan-alt-right-operation-pridefall-pride-month-cyber-attack-starbucks-amazon-homophobia/
Alt-right 4chan users are plotting to hijack LGBT+ Pride month by clogging social media with poisonous homophobia and boycotting supportive
Brace yourselves, everybody: The fascists of 4chan are planning an anti-LGBT social media blitz starting June 1 for Pride Month
Expect to see a lot of alt-right bots and sockpuppets doing everything possible to increase tension, division, and bad feelings in the LGBTQ+ community.
Basic guidelines:
Focus on your own goals and experiences for Pride Month—instead of just responding to the latest outrage, focus on connecting to people you care about, doing things you enjoy, promoting good causes, sharing media you like, or fundraising for organizations doing good work.
If you see someone promoting hateful or divisive opinions, don’t engage with them and boost their metrics—block and report them
Remember that a lot of troll operations aim to make us feel hopeless and divided. Trolls take our community’s existing vulnerabilities and divisions, and weaponize them. These trolls will be leaning hard on filling social media with new stories about homophobic and transphobic violence and suicide statistics, so we’re upset, in a defensive mentality, and feeling isolated and alone. We have to work together to promote solidarity and positivity.
Double-check news stories before spreading them. Be extra suspicious before you signalboost something. Screencaps can be fabricated; so can videos and images. Google for other sources, check reputable news sites, or look it up on Snopes
Don’t assume people are who they say they are. Trolls will especially assume identities they can use to promote division. They’ll pose as LGBT people so they can inflame infighting or attack LGBT people with fewer consequences, or to frame different groups for misdeeds.
Take care of yourself and don’t let them get you down. Pride 2020 has a huge damper because we can’t do a lot of the things that help us renew and recharge. Being in quarantine means we miss out on festivals, dancing, parades, performances, workshops, and important community-building events. We were already going to have to work to make it a decent Pride at a distance. 4chan wants to make things even worse, so that so we end up feeling paranoid, hypervigilant, abandoned, and at each other’s throats. Do your best to promote your own mental health and everybody else’s, and unplug from social media when you need to.
The age old tip of dealing with trolls: 1. DON’T INTERACT WITH THEM 2. IGNORE THEM 3. BLOCK THEM Continue your day online and avoid them as much as possible. Nothing frustrates a troll more than not responding. :) And if you get dogpiled, log off. Turn off notifications. Call some friends. :) Avoid the internet until it has blown over.
