Fashtag

The fashtag or Bash the Hash was an attempted right-wing troll campaign spawned in May 2019 by 4chan's /pol/ board. The campaign was intended to dupe The Media into believing that the hashtagFile:Wikipedia's W.svg is a fascist, alt-right, or hateful symbol. The campaign produced fake adverts, fake media coverage and was praised by numerous far-right pundits.

The fashtag should not be confused with Fashtag Clothing, an upscale London clothery
The original "fashtag", captioned "The hashtag is a symbol of hate" [1]
“”They’re unable to resist the bait. Every time.
—/r/TheDonald user who trusted a photoshop[2]
Frogs, clowns and swastikas
Alt-right
Chuds
Rebuilding the Reich, one meme at a time
Buzzwords and dogwhistles
v - t - e

It didn't work.

Failure

The "fashtag" was favorably received by neo-Nazi blog The Daily Stormer,[3] "journalist" Tim Pool[4], fetid swamp /r/TheDonald,[2] ancap furry Mr. Dapperton,[5] disgraced pundit Milo Yiannopoulos[6] and a few small right-wing YouTubers.[7][8][9][10][11] More than 200 threads on 4chan attempted to organize the operation.[12] Many of these sources claimed or implied that "The Media" was duped and described the hashtag as a "symbol of hate".

In reality, all mainstream coverage noted that the campaign was a hoax, including The Telegraph,[13] VTFile:Wikipedia's W.svg,[14] and even fucking RT.[15] This also includes the article from The Daily Dot,[16] which was claimed as proof that the media took the bait[4] despite being written by an InfoWars writer.[17] Claims to the contrary were mostly themselves fake news, including a fake local TV spot[18] and a fake CNN screenshot of SE Cupp produced below:

The claimed CNN screenshot
The real CNN screenshot [19]

The term "fashtag" rose to about 1/10th the search volume of "hashtag" in May 2019.[20]

In short, as usual, this 4chan "hoax" mostly consisted of 4channers hoaxing other 4channers into believing that they were actually having an impact.

Switch Reloaded

In Season 4 Episode 8 of the German comedy series Switch: Reloaded, a sketch parodying The Office with Michael Kessler as Adolf Hitler features a redesigned nazi flag with a hashtag/number sign replacing the swastika. The episode first aired in July 2010, nine years before the hoax emerged.[21][22]

gollark: With use of concurrency it may become as much as potato % faster.
gollark: PotatOS Tetrahedron is coming soon and will streamline the potatOS code to make it easier and cooler.
gollark: DacDJ is an alternate installer for potatOS which plays music.
gollark: Solarflame is coming. Hide!
gollark: Úmwñ.

See also

References
  1. #FASHTAG[a w], fцику мцику, Steam
  2. CNN: Fashtag! The new hate symbol![a w] (archive), /r/TheDonald, Reddit
  3. #HeilHitler: “Fashtag” is a New Way to Signal to Other Followers of Nazi Ideology!, The Daily Stormer
  4. Media Takes 4Chan Bait, Runs Hashtag Hoax Story[a w], Tim Pool, YouTube
  5. Fashtag - Worlds Best Troll[a w], Mr. Dapperton, YouTube
  6. "Milo Yiannopoulos on Fashtag and OK Sign"[a w], Milo Yiannopoulos on Legion Of Skanks, YouTube
  7. OPERATION BASH THE HASH # | Hacker 4chan Trolls Twitter[a w], Mr. Obvious, YouTube
  8. Fashtag: New Hate Symbol[a w], Martina Markota, YouTube
  9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbCe5OoyhHw[a w]
  10. "Fashtag 4Chan's newest hoax explained."[a w], Conservative With a Mic, YouTube
  11. "4Chan Tricks NPCs With Hashtag Is Symbol Of Hate"[a w], Salty Cracker, YouTube
  12. "fashtag"+OR+"bash+the+hash"%29+site%3A4plebs.org "("fashtag" OR "bash the hash") site:4plebs.org", Google Search]
  13. "NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week"[a w], Amanda Seitz and Beatrice Dupuy, The Telgraph
  14. 4chan are trying to make the hashtag a symbol of white supremacy[a w], Joe Terzon, VT
  15. Is the # sign a symbol of Nazism and white supremacy? 4chan is trying to make people think so[a w], RT
  16. 4chan’s new troll campaign aims to make the hashtag a white supremacist symbol[a w], Mikael Thalen, The Daily Dot
  17. "Shot: Bad article about a flubbed 4chan campaign Chaser: Daily Dot ran this article by someone WITH MANY BYLINES AT INFOWARS The feedback loop has been closed!"[a w], Jared Holt, Twitter
  18. Fashtag # is a racist hate symbol | MAGA M3ME5[a w], Dan Jordan, YouTube}}
  19. "S.E. Cupp Rips Kellyanne Conway: ‘Crying Sexism’ is Her Go-To Move"[a w], Mediaite
  20. "Fashtag", "Hashtag", Google Trends
  21. https://www.prosieben.de/tv/switch-reloaded/video/22-obersalzberg-schreibmaschinen-fuers-vaterland-clip
  22. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1151173/?ref_=ttep_ep2
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