Is Threads Really Labeling Its Users As Antifa?

“Antifa” is in the views of Donald Trump. Following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Trump blamed the “radical leftists” of having pushed political violence against those on the right, even while the motivations of the assassin remain under an active investigation. As such, the president goes after Antifa, calling him a “domestic terrorist organization”, despite the fact that Antifa is not really an organization and that the United States has no domestic terrorist designation.

When the President of the United States breathes tensions in this way, it is not surprising that our speech also influences. Here is such an example: you may have seen publications on social networks this week saying that threads are now joining warnings to user publications that are suspect members of antifa, or publications with the label attached itself. A viral article discussing the subject comes from the “Balerermera” account, which shared the following screenshot Wednesday:

The label, affixed to a harmless message from the Benballer story, reads as follows: “This user is suspected of being part of a terrorist organization called Antifa. Please point out any suspicious behavior.” Taken at its nominal value, one could assume that the sons, belonging to Meta, try to put themselves on the right side of the Trump administration by identifying apparently “left” accounts as members of Antifa.

Everything is a bit

The fact is that the label is not real: a Meta spokesperson confirmed this by e-mail, saying that the label is only a meme, and not something created by Meta. This does not mean that the label did not appear in any thread article. They absolutely have it, and you may have seen them. But if some Threads messages seem to have the label attached, it is because it is in fact part of the original text of the post, formatted to look like an addition by Meta.

Some users seem to add the text to their joking messages, as in this example, which puts the label in context with a popular meme of the film Inglourious Basterds. This message, which places the label on an innocent declaration on how the pumpkin pie is good. These are solid jokes, but they also fuel confusion: some commentators are concerned about the label, while others share their own versions of the meme, which are quite obvious compared to the “antifa label”.

A good reminder to think before sharing

Official labels on publications are more and more a standard through publication on social networks, which is why this meme is something for a handful of users, in particular given the recent controversies on the relations between the American government, the media and technological companies. If you are used to seeing community notes or companies warnings like Meta, you assume that this anti -fas label is legitimate. Learning that this should not remind us that the Internet is a disinformation treasure. You should never take a random post on Instagram as the without eyeshadow, especially if this message seems particularly controversial, or particularly aligned with your own vision of the world.

Before you believe something you see on your flows, take a moment to think about it. Do research to see if sources of trust have confirmed the complaints. If they have not done so, stay skeptical and absorb it to spread it.