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Nordahl-Hansen A. Atypical: a typical portrayal of autism? Lancet Psychiatry. 2017; 4(11):837–838. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(17)30397-8. [ PubMed] [ CrossRef] [ Google Scholar] Appleton JV, King L. Journeying from the philosophical contemplation of constructivism to the methodological pragmatics of health services research. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 2002; 40(6):641–648. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2648.2002.02424.x. [ PubMed] [ CrossRef] [ Google Scholar] Eynon R, Fry J, Schroeder R. The ethics of online research. The SAGE handbook of online research methods. 2017; 2:19–37. doi: 10.4135/9781473957992.n2. [ CrossRef] [ Google Scholar] I amconvinced our only plan for victory is convincingly smearing every Dem in 2018 as some type of Sex Offender, GOP obviously won’t do that so we need weaponized autists to spread #pizzagate times 10, but more convincing. *NOTE “pizzagate” is a reference to a conspiracy theory that claimed Hillary Clinton ran a child-sex ring in a pizzeria.
While the use of extant texts that have been scraped from online discourse can be seen as “non-invasive”, there remain important ethical considerations for this study. Eynon, Fry and Schroeder (Eynon et al., 2017) propose three concepts at the core of research ethics: confidentiality, anonymity, and informed consent. Maintaining confidentiality and anonymity was a straightforward process, as we did not gain access to the “real” identities of Gab users. Additionally, we do not share usernames when reporting on this work. While informed consent is important in human subject research, it is well accepted that certain kinds of research can ethically proceed without informed consent, including observational research in public places and analysis of texts that are “in the public domain” (Willis, 2019). Weaponized autism is a wonder to behold to us regular people. You guys are thermonuclear! Thank you for never giving up on anything! Autism Against Fascism. ((no date)). Autism Against Fascism - Home. Retrieved from https://autismagainstfascism.wordpress.com/ It is also the case that the Gab archetype of an autistic person is rooted in some portrayals of autism in medicine. With a growing portion of autism research being informed by a neurodiversity framework, we are developing an improved understanding of the heterogeneity of autistic people, beyond simply thinking of “levels of severity” (Welch et al., 2020). This includes explorations of autistic experience that challenge older, dominant conceptualizations of autism. However, early framing of autism maps well on to the reductionist Gab autism stereotype. Especially fitting is the former diagnostic category of Asperger Syndrome, which was named after Hans Asperger, who reportedly referred to his young patients as “little professors”, comparing their knowledge (relevant to their area of interest) to that of erudite professors, but also describing them as socially unskilled, unaware, and uninterested (Osborne, 2002).
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Who’d have thought the heros of the day would be the weaponized autists of 4chan? Not only are they successfully identifying cowardly masked #Antifa anarchists, but they have analyzed their mob tactics in detail. These guys deserve some love!
Greene VS. “Deplorable” satire: Alt-right memes, white genocide tweets, and redpilling normies. Studies in American Humor. 2019; 5(1):31–69. doi: 10.5325/studamerhumor.5.1.0031. [ CrossRef] [ Google Scholar] Albrecht S, Fielitz M, Thurston N. Introduction. In: Fielitz M, Thurston N, editors. Post-digital cultures of the far right. Online actions and offline consequences in Europe and the US. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag; 2019. pp. 7–22. [ Google Scholar] What values and assumptions held by Gab posters are underlying the term “weaponized autism” and how it is used? It was hard for me to accept! Asperger's had been on the table for a long time, but I clung to the other possibility of ADD instead. I don't know why I was so much more afraid of autism than of ADD, but I wouldn't be surprised if 4chan's slurs played a part.Paradoxically, to be a weaponized autist is to be simultaneously devalued. Alongside the expressions of admiration and affection are incongruous sentiments of degradation. While useful and talented, weaponized autists are seen as “strange” and incapable of many “normal” tasks such as maintaining hygiene, relationships, and employment. They are presumed to spend time engaged in “useless” activities (such as online gaming) and to occasionally engage in “unusual” behaviour, such as making screeching “Reee” sounds. Osborne, L. (2002). Little Professors. American Normal: The Hidden World of Asperger Syndrome, 37–83 Our analysis was complicated by obfuscating language used within Gab, which is among several known communication tactics in alt-right spaces (May & Feldman, 2018). Gab, like many online spaces dedicated to alt-right or white nationalist interests, deliberately use humour, sarcasm, irony, and “playful” imagery (including memes) to obscure their intentions to spread hate (May & Feldman, 2018). These so-called “LULZ” (an adaptation of laugh out loud, or LOL) tactics are employed to rebrand and obfuscate fascist ideology and allows users a level of deniability when called out for their hate. These tactics work to make their offensive material more palatable to the mainstream, enhance their recruitment of young people and people who would be repelled by overtly violent or racist material, facilitate identification of insiders (those who know the vernacular) and outsiders (those who do not), and ultimately allow groups to “hide in plain sight” (May & Feldman, 2018). These tactics also pose a challenge to discourse analysis. Humour, sarcasm, and layers of irony are designed to leave many statements “open to interpretation”. Because of these tactics, extended immersion in the data was required to develop confidence in detecting the intended message of a post. Huws JC, Jones RS. Missing voices: Representations of autism in British newspapers, 1999–2008. British Journal of Learning Disabilities. 2011; 39(2):98–104. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-3156.2010.00624.x. [ CrossRef] [ Google Scholar]
Exposure to online hate propaganda is common among Internet users, especially young people (Oksanen et al., 2014). Individual risk of exposure to this type of messaging rises with increased online activity, decreased attachment to family, and experiences of bullying both online and offline (Oksanen et al., 2014), all of which may be more common for autistic people (Cappadocia et al., 2012; Kuo, 2014; Sofronoff et al., 2011). This trend is expected to grow as hate groups increasingly recruit for their movements in online platforms (Perry & Olsson, 2009). The combination of these trends greatly amplifies the risk for certain autistic people to become involved with hate-based groups, which comes with additional risks of engaging in offline behaviours that are potentially harmful to themselves and others. How has this definition of autism been influenced by media, social media, and academic / medical literature? What values underpin the way Gab posters have defined / labeled autistic people? Our top Kek priests are in development of a new kind of weapon... Called the Reeeening Rifle. Shoots dank memes with semi-auto, and concentrated weaponized autism with fully-auto. *NOTE “Kek” is an insider vernacular term with several meanings, in this case referring to a fictional culture / heritage and religion shared by alt right online community (Tuters, 2018)We cherish our autism for we have weaponized it and made of it a terrifying sword with which to harrow our enemies The greatest weapon on Earth is the weaponization of the depressed and emotionally vulnerable. Is Weaponized Autism not a piratical suicide delivery device? Can Social Media be used to find and manipulate useful idiots? Sadly yes
Bateman PJ, Gray PH, Butler BS. Research note—the impact of community commitment on participation in online communities. Information Systems Research. 2011; 22(4):841–854. doi: 10.1287/isre.1090.0265. [ CrossRef] [ Google Scholar]DEO. How White Nationalism Courts Internet Nerd Culture. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@DeoTasDevil/how-white-nationalism-courts-internet-nerd-culture-b4ebad07863d Building off the Gab autism archetype, weaponized autism is the harnessing of hyper-focus and talents of “autistic” people. This “weapon” can be used to advance the interests of the alt-right, including harming their enemies, opponents, or people they see as undesirable. Literat I, van den Berg S. Buy memes low, sell memes high: Vernacular criticism and collective negotiations of value on Reddit’s MemeEconomy. Information Communication & Society. 2019; 22(2):232–249. doi: 10.1080/1369118X.2017.1366540. [ CrossRef] [ Google Scholar] Schroeder, J. (2019). A Warning to Moms of White Teen Boys. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/12/opinion/sunday/white-supremacist-recruitment.html Kendall L. Nerd nation: Images of nerds in US popular culture. International Journal of Cultural Studies. 1999; 2(2):260–283. doi: 10.1177/136787799900200206. [ CrossRef] [ Google Scholar]
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