“Antifa” is in Donald Trump’s sights. Following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Trump has blamed “radical leftists” for pushing political violence against those on the right—even as the assassin’s motives remain under active investigation. As such, the president is going after Antifa, calling it a “domestic terrorist organization,” despite the fact that Antifa is not actually an organization, and that the U.S. has no domestic terrorist designation.
When the president of the United States enflames tensions in this way, it’s no surprise our discourse enflames as well. Here’s one such example: You may have seen posts on social media this week claiming that Threads is now attaching warnings to posts from users who are suspected members of Antifa, or posts with the label attached itself. One viral post discussing the subject comes from the account “Balleralert,” who shared the following screenshot on Wednesday:
The label, affixed to a innocuous post by the account benballer, reads: “This user is suspected of being part of a terrorist organization called Antifa. Please report any suspicious behavior.” Taken at face value, one might assume Threads, owned by Meta, is trying to get on the Trump administration’s good side by identifying seemingly “leftist” accounts as members of Antifa.
It’s all a bit
The thing is, the label is not real: A Meta spokesperson confirmed this to me via email, saying that the label is just a meme, and not something created by Meta. That’s not to say the label hasn’t appeared in any Threads posts. They absolutely have, and you may have seen them. But if some Threads posts appear to have the label attached, it’s because it’s actually part of the original text of the post, formatted to look like an addition by Meta.
Some users appear to be adding the text to their posts in jest, such as in this example, which puts the label in context with a popular meme from the film Inglourious Basterds. This post, which places the label on an innocent declaration about how pumpkin pie is good. These are solid jokes, but they’re also fueling confusion: Some commenters are concerned about the label, while others are sharing their own versions of the meme, which are quite obvious compared to the “Antifa label.”
A good reminder to think before you share
Official labels on posts are increasingly a standard across social media posts, which is likely why this meme is something a handful of users are falling for, especially given recent controversies over the relationships between the U.S. government, the media, and tech companies. If you’re used to seeing community notes or warning from companies like Meta, you assume this Antifa label is legitimate. Learning that it isn’t should serve as a good reminder that the internet is a treasure trove of disinformation. You should never take a random post on Instagram as the unvarnished truth, especially if that post seems particularly controversial, or particularly aligned to your own worldview.
Before you believe something you see on your feeds, take a moment to think it through. Do some research to see if any trusted sources have confirmed the claims. If they haven’t, remain skeptical, and refrain from spreading it around.
