K-pop fan activism drowned out far-right messages within hours.

Evidence

In June 2020, amid the first wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic and during a global wave of Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests, a string of unusual stories made headlines. On June 5 news media reported that BLM supporters had launched a coordinated cyber sabotage against the Dallas Police Department social media accounts after the department had asked its followers to post video evidence of illegal activity during the weekend’s demonstrations to their iWatchDallas app. By posting a relentless barrage of fancams (TikTok parlance for video and photo compilations of a K-pop idol or group), gaming clips, and anime GIFs, the amateur saboteurs overloaded the app, forcing the department to announce that it was temporarily removing the app “due to technical difficulties.” On the same day, Newsweek ran a story about a separate wave of K-pop fancam spam attacks on QAnon (the vast network of social media accounts associated with far-right conspiracy theorists alleging a “deep state” plot against President Trump). In the days that followed, a number of conservative and neofascist hashtags were also targeted, including #AllLivesMatter, #WhiteLivesMatter, and #ExposeAntifa, all deploying the same method: an onslaught of randomly selected, willfully disorienting off-message images and videos of K-pop bands. The aim of these attacks was to subvert Trump supporters’ and white supremacists’ efforts to disseminate information and organize meetings through the use of hashtags. The outcome was a resounding success: their messages were almost completely drowned out within hours. — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 301

Categorization

• SHARE: The specific fact that TikTok fancams and anime GIFs were used to overwhelm police and far-right hashtags is exactly the kind of concrete, surprising historical detail to send to someone interested in digital activism.