iFunny Cover-up Controversy
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Overview
iFunny Cover-up Controversy refers to a series of actions made by the owners of the meme-sharing app iFunny to reduce the exposure of the radicalized users present on the site, including nondisclosure agreements for the iFunny moderators and removal of the search function from the iFunny website.
Background
In the period between November 2014 and August 2019, a number of crimes connected to users on iFunny meme-sharing app have appeared in the news, including alleged school shooting threat by iFunny user Shaug,[1] murder committed by iFunny user Saboteur,[2] child pornography possession by user InterestingHistory,[3] and others.[4]
On August 7th, 2019, the house of iFunny user ArmyofChrist (Justin Olsen) has been raided by the FBI, with over 10,000 rounds of ammunition and 25 guns seized and Olsen being charged with "threatening to assault a federal law enforcement officer," based on his posts on a private Discord server.[5] On August 19th, iFunny user awarded (Farhan Sheikh) has been arrested following a post in which he threatened to commit manslaughter against patients and doctors of an abortion clinic in Chicago.[6]
In the days following Justin Olsen arrest, BuzzFeed posted an article highlighting multiple iFunny accounts which posted racist, misogynistic, violence-promoting and generally edgy content, bringing mainstream attention to the lesser-known portion of the iFunny audience.[7]
Following news reports on the extremist communities present on the site, iFunny released a statement in which they claimed that the "percent of the potential criminals among [iFunny users] has 100% correlation with the percent of the potential criminals among the whole society."[8]
iFunny is the most influential mobile app among young adults in the US. We have over 10 million unique US users in app per month. It's approximately equal to 25% of the young adults population of the US (from 43 million young adults as per government stats). We assume that percent of the potential criminals among them has 100% correlation with the percent of the potential criminals among the whole society.
Notable Developments
In the following days, in addition to the removal of a large number of problematic accounts, actions have been taken by the iFunny owners and management team in order to downplay the presence of racist, homophobic, misogynistic and other types of radical content on the site. At an unidentified time in mid-August 2019, the search function on the iFunny website has been disabled. On August 26th, 2019, BuzzFeed reported that iFunny management has required their volunteer moderators to sign an NDA agreement.[9]
Additionally, the iFunny account BigBratish (Russian: "Big Bro") owned by the iFunny CEO Denis Litvinov has been taken down after being mentioned in the BuzzFeed's story.
Online Reactions
Following Justin Olsen's arrest, multiple iFunny users posted disclaimers that the content found on their pages should be considered irony and satire. Additionally, multiple jokes about FBI agents and press paying attention to the site have also been posted by the users.
Search Interest
External References
[1] Patch – Update: Out-of-State Suspect Identified in Land O' Lakes High School Threat
[2] BuzzFeed – The Man Accused Of Killing His Gay Classmate Was Sexually 'Confused,' Attorney Says
[3] iFunny – Osceola man charged with possession of child pornography
[4] Reddit – Controversial iFunny accounts
[5] The New York Times – Man With Weapons Cache Threatened Planned Parenthood and Agents, F.B.I. Says
[6] The Washington Post – ‘Stop me if you can’: Teen arrested for allegedly threatening ‘slaughter’ at abortion clinic
[7] BuzzFeed – Funny Has Become A Hub For White Nationalism
[8] BuzzFeed – 10,000 Rounds Of Ammo And 25 Guns Were Seized From A Teenager Posting Far-Right Memes On iFunny And Discord
[9] BuzzFeed – iFunny Is Trying To Fix Its Far-Right Problem By Shutting Up Its Moderators
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