If You're Reading About an Internet Boycott, It Probably Doesn't Exist

If you were watching Twitter or various news outlets yesterday, you might have caught something about a confusing white supremacist call to boycott the next “Star Wars” film, apparently because it features a prominent black character. You might also have noticed that a vanishingly small portion of the associated Twitter hashtag involved actual racists, compared to people expressing mockery or anger at the idea. If you looked further, you may have noticed that the whole thing was seemingly made up by a couple of trolls who ginned up enough publicity to make it a trending topic.

The “Star Wars boycott” is basically the inverse of a long-running 4chan attempt to sucker social justice advocates into supporting things like a fake women’s convention or a campaign to end Father’s Day.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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