Triple parentheses#Response
{{about|the use of brackets as an antisemitic symbol|other uses of the punctuation mark|Bracket}}
{{use dmy dates |date=September 2023}}
{{short description|Antisemitic symbol}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2023}}
{{Antisemitism}}
Triple parentheses or triple brackets, or an echo, often referred to in print as an
Use of the notation was brought to mainstream attention by an article posted by Mic in June 2016.{{cite web |title=The Neo-Nazi (((Echoes))) Symbol Is Officially Hate Speech|url=https://mic.com/articles/145459/the-neo-nazi-echoes-symbol-is-officially-hate-speech |website=Mic |first=Cooper |last=Fleishman |first2=Anthony |last2=Smith |date=6 June 2016 |access-date=7 June 2016 |archive-date=27 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827063458/https://mic.com/articles/145459/the-neo-nazi-echoes-symbol-is-officially-hate-speech |url-status=live}} The reports also led Google to remove a browser extension meant to automatically place the "echo" notation around Jewish names on web pages, and the notation being classified as a form of hate speech by the Anti-Defamation League. In the wake of these actions, some users, both Jews and non-Jews, have intentionally placed their own names within triple parentheses as an act of reappropriation or solidarity.
Prior to its use as an antisemitic label or identifier, ((( screen name ))) had been used in online communities such as AOL to indicate that a user was "cyberhugging" the user with the specified screen name.{{Cite book |title=Making the Internet Family Friendly |last=Lang |first=Brian |publisher=Nashville, Tenn. : T. Nelson |year=1999 |isbn=0-7852-7568-1 |pages=Section 2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/christianparents0000lang}}
Use
File:Conspiracy theorist (48555437426).jpg holding a sign commenting on Pizzagate and the death of Jeffrey Epstein, with triple parentheses identifying Epstein as Jewish]]
The use of the "echo" originated from a 2014 episode of The Daily Shoah, a podcast produced by the alt-right, antisemitic, white nationalist blog The Right Stuff.{{cite web |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/alt-right-alt-lite-naming-hate |url-status=live |title=From Alt Right to Alt Lite: Naming the Hate |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024230932/https://www.adl.org/education/resources/backgrounders/from-alt-right-to-alt-lite-naming-the-hate |archive-date=2017-10-24 |work=Anti-Defamation League }} The podcast includes a segment known as the "Merchant Minute", where Jewish names are spoken with a cartoonish echo effect to single them out. The editors of The Right Stuff explained that the use of an echo, represented in text using triple parentheses, was an internal meme meant to symbolize an opinion that the actions of Jews in the past cause their names to "echo throughout history". From the inside out, each parenthesis represents perceived Jewish involvement in mass media, mass immigration, and global Zionism.{{cite news |last1=Fleishman |first1=Cooper |last2=Smith |first2=Anthony |title=(((Echoes))), Exposed: The Secret Symbol Neo-Nazis Use to Target Jews Online |url=https://www.mic.com/articles/144228/echoes-exposed-the-secret-symbol-neo-nazis-use-to-target-jews-online |access-date=4 June 2016 |publisher=Mic |date=1 June 2016 |archive-date=27 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827153444/https://mic.com/articles/144228/echoes-exposed-the-secret-symbol-neo-nazis-use-to-target-jews-online |url-status=live}}
The triple parentheses have since been used on social networking services such as Twitter by antisemites, alt-righters, neo-Nazis, and white nationalists as a signal to target Jews for harassment. A number of Jewish journalists told the website Mic that after their names were mentioned in echoes, they began to receive messages from trolls containing antisemitic messages, Holocaust photos, and death threats. The Jerusalem Post reported that the triple parentheses had "emerged as a weapon in the arsenal of the so-called 'alt-right', an amorphous, primarily online conservative movement that has been becoming more visible and vocal in the midst of Donald Trump's presidential campaign", and that these tactics were increasingly being used to target Jewish journalists posting content that was critical of the Republican Party candidate. A user who engages in these "dog-piling" actions described the echo notation as being like a "dog whistle". Search engines typically ignore punctuation contained in a query, meaning that it can be difficult to intentionally locate posts containing this notation.
{{anchor|Coincidence Detector}}
In a June 2016 article detailing the phenomenon, Mic also reported that an extension had been developed for the Google Chrome web browser known as "Coincidence Detector", which automatically places the triple parentheses around the names of individuals who "[have] been involved in certain political movements and media empires". The extension contains a list of 8,771 names, including common Jewish names and surnames, those of media personalities who have been critical of Trump, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, as well as organizations such as Ben & Jerry's and Kars4Kids.{{cite web |title=Google pulls Chrome extension that marked Jewish people online |first=Lizzie |last=Plaugic |url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/6/3/11853244/google-chrome-extension-jewish-people-pulled |website=The Verge |access-date=7 June 2016 |date=2016-06-03 |archive-date=2016-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160607051801/http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/3/11853244/google-chrome-extension-jewish-people-pulled |url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=There's a Google Chrome Extension Used to Track and Expose 'Anti-White' Jews |first=Sam |last=Reisman |url=https://www.mediaite.com/online/theres-a-google-chrome-extension-used-to-track-and-expose-anti-white-jews/ |website=Mediaite |access-date=7 June 2016 |date=2016-06-02 |archive-date=2016-06-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605104238/http://www.mediaite.com/online/theres-a-google-chrome-extension-used-to-track-and-expose-anti-white-jews/ |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last=Menegus |first=Bryan |title=What Happened With That Anti-Semitic Chrome Extension? |date=3 June 2016 |url=https://gizmodo.com/what-happened-with-that-anti-semitic-chrome-extension-1780420435 |work=Gizmodo |access-date=5 June 2016 |archive-date=6 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160606074917/http://gizmodo.com/what-happened-with-that-anti-semitic-chrome-extension-1780420435 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last1=Fleishman |first1=Cooper |last2=Smith |first2=Anthony |title="Coincidence Detector": The Google Chrome Extension White Supremacists Use to Track Jews |date=2 June 2016 |url=https://mic.com/articles/145105/coincidence-detector-the-google-extension-white-supremacists-use-to-track-jews |work=Mic |access-date=5 June 2016 |archive-date=4 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604114745/https://mic.com/articles/145105/coincidence-detector-the-google-extension-white-supremacists-use-to-track-jews |url-status=live}}
The absurdist Twitter user dril sparked controversy in June 2016 after posting a tweet in which he made satirical use of the triple parentheses. Specifically, dril tweeted: "i refuse to consume any product that has been created by, or is claimed to have been created by, the (((Keebler Elves)))".{{Cite tweet |user=dril |number=747822549069926400 |date =June 28, 2016 |title=i refuse to consume any product that has been created by, or is claimed to have been created by, the (((Keebler Elves)))}} Journalist Jay Hathaway wrote that most of dril's followers understood the tweet to be an ironic joke exploring the uncertain "etiquette around this very 2016 expression of bigotry ... Can a non-Jew apply the (((echoes))) to his own name* {{cite tweet| user=asymmetricinfo |number=739477779465555968 |first=Megan |last=McArdle |title=If you've been wondering about the parentheses around my name, here's the explanation https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/nz77kq/jews-are-taking-back-echoes-from-the-neo-nazis |date=June 5, 2016 |access-date=September 15, 2017 |archive-date=August 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810114823/https://twitter.com/asymmetricinfo/status/739477779465555968?lang=en |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/nz77kq/jews-are-taking-back-echoes-from-the-neo-nazis |title=Jews Are Taking Back (((Echoes))) From the Neo-Nazis |last=Koebler |first=Jason |work=motherboard.vice.com |date=June 3, 2016 |publisher=Vice (magazine)#Website |quote=Thanks to everyone participating in this act of (((cultural appropriation))). Since the culture in question is Nazi, it's permissible.— (((Goldberg))) (@JeffreyGoldberg) June 3, 2016 |access-date=September 15, 2017 |archive-date=September 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915113731/https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/nz77kq/jews-are-taking-back-echoes-from-the-neo-nazis |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/Yair_Rosenberg/status/738583278110679040 |title=Twitter Tweet from "(((Yair Rosenberg)))", (that is, ... from @Yair_Rosenberg) |quote=Want to raise awareness about anti-Semitism, show solidarity with harassed Jews & mess with the Twitter Nazis? Put ((( ))) around your name. |work=Twitter |author=Rosenberg, Yair |date=June 2, 2016 |access-date=September 15, 2017 |archive-date=July 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707214257/https://twitter.com/Yair_Rosenberg/status/738583278110679040 |url-status=live }} as a show of allyship? Is it OK to use the parentheses in a joke at the white supremacists' expense? There's no clear consensus."{{cite web |url=https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/dril-keebler-elves-anti-semite-weird-twitter/ |title=This @dril joke about the Keebler Elves brought Nazi chaos to Weird Twitter |last=Hathaway |first=Jay |date=July 6, 2016 |website=The Daily Dot |access-date=August 24, 2017 |archive-date=August 26, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826071234/https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/dril-keebler-elves-anti-semite-weird-twitter/ |url-status=live }} Regardless, some far-right users of Twitter saw the tweet as a genuine signal of support for antisemitism, and other users found the tweet to be in poor taste even as a joke.
Response
On June 3, 2016, following the publishing of the Mic article, Google pulled the Coincidence Detector extension from the Chrome Web Store, citing a violation of its policies prohibiting "promotions of hate or incitement of violence". It had been downloaded around 2,500 times before its removal.{{cite news |title=Google removes anti-Semitic app used to target Jews online |agency=JTA |url=https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Google-removes-anti-Semitic-app-used-to-target-Jews-online-455902 |access-date=4 June 2016 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=4 June 2016 |archive-date=4 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604121419/http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Google-removes-anti-Semitic-app-used-to-target-Jews-online-455902 |url-status=live}} In the wake of Google's removal of the extension, some Twitter users, including Jews and non-Jews, intentionally put triple parentheses around their usernames in an act of reappropriation or solidarity.{{cite news |last1=King |first1=Hope |title=Google takes down Chrome extension targeting Jews |url=https://money.cnn.com/2016/06/03/technology/google-racist-chrome-extension/ |access-date=4 June 2016 |work=CNN |date=3 June 2016 |archive-date=3 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603220407/http://money.cnn.com/2016/06/03/technology/google-racist-chrome-extension/ |url-status=live}} White nationalists, in turn, put inverted echo parentheses—like )))this(((—around their usernames to indicate their non-Jewish heritage.{{cite web |last1=Hess |first1=Amanda |title=For the Alt-Right, the Message Is in the Punctuation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/11/arts/for-the-alt-right-the-message-is-in-the-punctuation.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=15 June 2016 |date=10 June 2016 |archive-date=16 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116004452/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/11/arts/for-the-alt-right-the-message-is-in-the-punctuation.html |url-status=live}} Author Jeffrey Goldberg from The Atlantic said that he hoped that Jews could reclaim the symbolism in the same way as some LGBT people had reclaimed the word "queer".{{cite news |last1=Esensten |first1=Andrew |title=How Jews Are Re-claiming a Hateful neo-Nazi Symbol on Twitter |url=http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/u-s-election-2016/1.723576|access-date=8 June 2016|work=Haaretz|date=7 June 2016 |archive-date=8 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160608134616/http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/u-s-election-2016/1.723576 |url-status=live }} Jonathan Weisman, an editor at The New York Times, included the triple parentheses in the title of his 2018 book release, (((Semitism))): Being Jewish in America in the Age of Trump.{{cite web |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/24/playbook-birthday-jonathan-weisman-244096 |title=Birthday of the Day: Jonathan Weisman, NYT deputy Washington editor |first=Daniel |last=Lippmann |work=Politico |date=October 24, 2017 |access-date=January 20, 2018 |archive-date=January 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180121000017/https://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/24/playbook-birthday-jonathan-weisman-244096 |url-status=live }}
On June 6, 2016, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) announced that it had placed the triple parentheses in its database of symbols that it considers hate speech. CEO Jonathan Greenblatt explained that the symbol was "the online equivalent of tagging a building with anti-Semitic graffiti or taunting someone verbally", and that the ADL was "working with our partners in the tech industry to investigate this phenomenon more deeply".{{cite web |title=ADL to Add (((Echo))) Symbol, Used by Anti-Semites on Twitter, to Online Hate Symbols Database |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/adl-add-echo-symbol-used-anti-semites-twitter-online-hate-symbols-database |work=ADL.org |access-date=13 March 2018 |archive-date=13 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313214334/https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-to-add-echo-symbol-used-by-anti-semites-on-twitter-to-online-hate-symbols |url-status=live}}
See also
{{wiktionary|((( )))}}
- {{annotated link|/pol/}}
- {{section link|Nun (letter)|Social media campaign (2014)}}
- {{annotated link|Happy Merchant|Happy Merchant}}
- {{annotated link|Antisemitic canard}}
- {{annotated link|Right-wing antiglobalism}}
- {{section link|Globalism|Right-wing usage}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
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Category:Antisemitism in the United States