Since then, the database has grown to include 214 entries.

The ADL established its 'Hate on Display' database in 2000 as a way to help track hate groups and their symbols for law enforcement, educators and other members of the public hoping to spot potential warnings signs of anti-Semitism and other types of extremism. 'In many ways, they took what was a trolling effort and added it to their list of symbols,' he added. 'Over the past couple years, we've seen that the hoax was essentially successful in being applied by actual white supremacists,' Segal said. Segal pointed to the suspected white supremacist in Christchurch, New Zealand, accused of killing 51 worshippers at two mosques in March, who flashed the 'OK' hand gesture during an initial court appearance. Segal said that while many of those images were misconstrued by users on the online message boards, the number of people espousing hate while using the gesture has grown so widespread that it can no longer be considered a prank. Commenters on the message board appropriated images of people posing in the White House and other locations making the hand symbol as proof that it was catching on. 'More people than not will use the OK symbol as just 'OK.' But in those cases where there's more underlining meaning, I think it's important for people to understand that it could be used, and is being used, for hate as well.'Īccording to the website Know Your Meme, as a prank, 4chan users in 2017 launched a campaign to flood social media with posts linking the 'OK' hand gesture to the white power movement. Given the number of white supremacists who have adopted it, he said it can now carry a nefarious message. Oren Segal, director of the ADL's Center on Extremism, told NPR that for years on fringe online message boards such as 4chan and 8chan, the 'OK' sign has been deployed in memes and other images promoting hate. On Thursday, the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights organization, added 36 symbols to its 'Hate on Display' database including the index finger-to-thumb sign that in some corners of the Internet has become associated with white supremacy and the far right. The 'OK' hand gesture, commonly seen as a way of indicating that all is well, has now been classified as something else: a symbol of hate. The 'OK' hand gesture is among 36 new entries in the Anti-Defamation League's 'Hate on Display' database.

Okay sign text art