Social:Learn to Code
Learn to Code was a right-wing online campaign that primarily targeted journalists. It was conducted on Twitter against recently laid-off journalists from media organizations such as HuffPost and BuzzFeed. Beginning in January 2019, Learn to Code originated from 4chan's /pol/ messageboard, where journalists were targeted with malevolent tweets. The harassment campaign included death threats and targeted harassment.
Origin and spread
The origins of the phrase have been attributed to a man teaching web development to coal miners.[1][2] It became associated with journalists because multiple major publishers wrote articles celebrating his work.[3][4][5][6] In January 2019, over 1,000 jobs in journalism were eliminated by news organizations, which included BuzzFeed and HuffPost.[7] On February 1, 2019, messages were made by journalists and users on platforms such as Twitter discussing the layoffs.[8] Messages encouraging unemployed journalists to "learn to code" quickly began circulating around the platform. When Talia Lavin, a former freelance writer for HuffPost started seeing the messages, she discovered posts from 4chan encouraging harassment against journalists with the message,[1] with it being attributed to the /pol/ messageboard.[9] The phrase has been described as dog whistle,[1] or having a double meaning to justify harassment.[2]
Organization
Posts encouraging the harassment campaign originated from platforms such as 4chan and Gab. Talia Lavia found 4chan threads about users bragging about taunting journalists with sock puppet accounts.[10] She described how users on the /pol/ messageboard, which is popular with the alt-right, were discussing a plan to spam social media accounts of journalists with the phrase. She described that the tactics were remiscent of the Gamergate harassment campaign.[11] Twitter took action against the campaign, as it violated their terms of service.[12]
Harassment and spread
Targets of the harassment were subject to hate speech, antisemitism and death threats.[10][13] Some targets were met with messages of the "Day of the Rope", a reference to the day of mass execution in The Turner Diaries.[2][10] Other right-wing commentators and websites mentioned the campaign, such as Donald Trump Jr., Tucker Carlson, and The Gateway Pundit.[13][11] Devin Nunes, a Republican politician, mentioned the phrase on Fox News's The Ingraham Angle.[14][9]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "The weaponization of 'learn to code'" (in en-US). https://archive.thinkprogress.org/learn-to-code-decoded-the-campaign-against-laid-off-journalists-is-harassments-new-frontier-20725ddd480a/.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Molloy, Parker. "How a myth about journalists telling miners to "learn to code" helped people justify harassment" (in en). https://www.mediamatters.org/erick-erickson/how-myth-about-journalists-telling-miners-learn-code-helped-people-justify.
- ↑ Smiley, Lauren. "Can You Teach a Coal Miner to Code? | Backchannel" (in en-US). Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. https://www.wired.com/2015/11/can-you-teach-a-coal-miner-to-code/.
- ↑ Field, Anne. "Turning Coal Miners Into Coders--And Preventing A Brain Drain" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/sites/annefield/2017/01/30/turning-coal-miners-into-coders-and-preventing-a-brain-drain/.
- ↑ "Out-of-work coal miners find new work in computer industry - CBS News" (in en-US). 2017-11-18. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/out-of-work-coal-miners-find-new-work-in-computer-industry/.
- ↑ "Appalachian Miners Are Learning to Code" (in en). Bloomberg.com. 2016-02-03. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-03/from-coal-to-coding-appalachian-miners-getting-a-fresh-start.
- ↑ Knibbs, Kate (2019-01-26). "BuzzFeed Layoffs Are a Bad Sign for Online News" (in en). https://www.theringer.com/tech/2019/1/26/18198621/buzzfeed-news-layoffs-digital-media-economy.
- ↑ McHugh, Molly (2019-01-29). ""Learn to Code": The Meme Attacking Media" (in en). https://www.theringer.com/tech/2019/1/29/18201695/learn-to-code-twitter-abuse-buzzfeed-journalists.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Stephen, Bijan (2019-02-08). "Rep. Devin Nunes repeated a 4chan meme on national television" (in en-US). https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/8/18217528/rep-devin-nunes-4chan-meme-fox-news-tucker-carlson.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "4chan trolls inundate laid off HuffPost and BuzzFeed reporters with death threats" (in en). https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/4chan-trolls-flood-laid-huffpost-buzzfeed-reporters-death-threats-n963001.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lavin, Tal (2019-02-01). "The Fetid, Right-Wing Origins of "Learn to Code"". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. https://newrepublic.com/article/153019/fetid-right-wing-origins-learn-code. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
- ↑ Soave, Robby (2019-03-11). "Yes, You Can Get Kicked Off Twitter for Saying 'Learn To Code'—Even If It's Not Harassment" (in en-US). https://reason.com/2019/03/11/learn-to-code-twitter-harassment-ross/.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Beery, Zoë. "The troll brigade berates laid off journalists" (in en). https://www.cjr.org/analysis/learn-to-code.php.
- ↑ Knoop, Joseph (2019-02-09). "Republican Devin Nunes used a 4chan meme to mock journalists" (in en-US). https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/devin-nunes-4chan-meme-learn-code/.
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