Coded Hate: Extremists Weaponize Seemingly Innocuous Content to Promote Bigotry

Extremists and antisemites are weaponizing seemingly innocuous phrases, symbols and numbers to promote hate, particularly on mainstream social media platforms where harmful ideologies can reach larger audiences.

For decades, extremist users have established global connections by sharing hateful content online — much of which has been overt, especially on platforms with little to no content moderation. Yet the eventual rise of meme culture, defined in part by irony and coded meaning, also ushered in the use of innocuous phrases and symbols to promote hate.

This evolution created a challenge: Extremists can hide behind plausible deniability and evade content moderation efforts while still boosting antisemitism, racism and other forms of hate. This deliberate strategy allows potentially violative content to fly under the radar on mainstream platforms, where moderation safeguards may not pick up on this coded content. Notably, some of this content is also designed to appeal to the in-group — not necessarily to spread antisemitism, but to reinforce it among like-minded users online who understand the references. 

The following is a list of innocuous phrases, symbols and numbers that extremists frequently use to spread hate on both fringe and, worryingly, mainstream platforms. By design, these are intended to appear benign and, in many cases, they are likely to be. As such, it is important to consider context as the use of these phrases or numbers by themselves without a clear extremist connection should not be considered hate-related.

271K 

In certain contexts, 271 or 271K is used as a code for Holocaust denial or minimization. It references the conspiratorial claim that only an estimated 271,000 Jews were killed in the Holocaust, and that the widely accepted figure of 6 million deaths was deliberately exaggerated by Jews. The 271,000 figure has been attributed to an historical document that reportedly lists the number of death certificates issued in a portion of concentration camps.

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An antisemitic meme account promoting the 271K narrative in the caption, while sharing the alleged document in question. 

6 million cookies 

Extremists use the phrase “6 million cookies” to sow doubt about the number of Jews killed during the Holocaust, using “cookies” as a metaphor for Jews. For example, one user claimed that "it's not possible to bake six million cookies in five years given the number of ovens available." This antisemitic dog whistle can be traced back to at least 2017, and was popularized by white supremacist influencer Nick Fuentes in 2019.

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An antisemitic user and their followers using the “6 million cookies” reference.

Early Life Check

The phrase “early life check” or “check their early life” references the ‘Early Life’ section of Wikipedia pages for individuals, which often lists attributes like ethnicity and religion. The information in this section has been weaponized by promoters of hate to target individuals based on these attributes — for example, calling for an “early life check” to “prove” that someone was born to Jewish parents. Today, antisemitic, racist and anti-LGBTQ+ influencers have taken to mainstream platforms asking for “early life checks” on anyone they seek to harass.

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A white supremacist user asks for an “early life check” on an individual in the video.

Every Single Time

While not all uses of “every single time” are antisemitic in nature, the phrase is a common shorthand for antisemites to suggest that people they deem problematic are always revealed to be Jewish, or that events they deem problematic always involve Jewish individuals. It is sometimes stylized as “Every. Single. Time.”

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A post using the “every single time” phrase on an image of a Jewish and queer individual.

Fatigue / Black Fatigue / Jew Fatigue

In the white supremacist world, the concept of “fatigue” is a way to promote racism against people of color (typically Black people) or hate towards Jews by conveying that white people are tired of them and can no longer tolerate their behavior. White supremacists sometimes refer to these concepts as “n***** fatigue,” “Black fatigue” and “Jew fatigue,” which are often promoted alongside the baseless accusation that these groups pose an imminent danger to society.

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Antisemitic white supremacist influencer Nick Fuentes references “Black Fatigue.” 

Fire Extinguisher (🧯)

In late 2023, far-right Polish politician and lawmaker Grzegorz Braun used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles on a menorah in the country’s parliament building in Warsaw. Almost immediately, extremists online began celebrating the incident, adopting the fire extinguisher as a symbol for “fighting back” against Jews by using the emoji alongside antisemitic content, or creating AI-generated memes that depict people using fire extinguishers on menorahs, or even as military-style weapons. The symbol has been used across social media platforms, including Telegram and X.

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Alternate account for antisemitic influencer Sam Parker, who uses the fire extinguisher symbol in his username and cover photo.

Happy Hedgehog 

The “Happy Hedgehog” term and associated imagery is used alongside antisemitic and neo-Nazi content in online discourse. The term uses the acronym HH, used by some as a code for “Heil Hitler,” and has been used as a hashtag on sites like X. It is also seen in account usernames and antisemitic memes.

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A user with a “Happy Hedgehog” reference in their username promoting Nazi/Hitler content. 

Juice (🧃)

Antisemites sometimes use the word “juice” as a code word for “Jews” or “Jewish,” allowing them to espouse demonizing rhetoric about the Jewish people while evading content moderation. Some use images of a juice box — such as the juice box emoji — for the same purpose in antisemitic memes, social media posts and even extremist merchandise.

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This text uses a juice box emoji as a code to reference “Jewish propaganda” along with a Holocaust denial dog whistle (271K) in the caption. 

My Heart Goes Out to You

Since President Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025, when Elon Musk acknowledged the audience by twice extending his arm upward from his chest and stating, “My heart goes out to you,”  antisemites and neo-Nazis have embraced the phrase as a coded way to signal their shared bigotry, often using it alongside overt antisemitic content. Both supporters and non-supporters of Musk, as well as antisemites and neo-Nazis, interpreted the gesture as a Nazi-era Hitler salute.

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Antisemitic influencer Lucas Gage days after the inauguration with a “music video” of Hitler titled, “My Heart Goes Out To You.”

Never Lose Your Smile

“Never Lose Your Smile,” sometimes abbreviated to NLYS, is a phrase and meme that originated from a popular image that shows the words “NEVER LOSE YOUR SMILE” above the bottom half of a skull and crossbones image known as the Totenkopf. The phrase and image are often shared alongside antisemitic and white supremacist rhetoric, as well as romanticized depictions of Hitler.

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A video using a “Never Lose Your Smile” image and hashtag, along with #austrianpainter hashtag — a reference to Adolf Hitler. 

Noticing

Around 2019, antisemitic and extremist users online began using the concept of “noticing” to describe when people finally “notice” and assert that Jews are purportedly all-powerful or nefarious, or when they “notice” that someone in a position of power is Jewish. It is believed to have been popularized by a Telegram account called “The Noticer.” In 2022, the hashtag #TheNoticing trended on X as a result of a coordinated 4chan campaign.

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An antisemitic account with “Noticing” in the username posts Ye’s “Heil Hitler” song, saying “ ‘They’ banned it everywhere [sic]’” and “We notice.” 

Paper Beats Rock

A white supremacist allusion to the game “rock, paper, scissors,” the phrase “paper beats rock” and associated imagery depicts the “Hitler salute” hand positioned over the “Black Power” fist, often stylized in a black-and-white image, to promote white power. In certain contexts, the phrase may be used without the accompanying image.

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A post showing an image of a Black power fist and a Hitler salute with the caption, “Paper beats rock anyway.” 

Small Hats Big Problems

"Small hats big problems" is an antisemitic phrase used by antisemites and white supremacists. "Small hats" is a reference to the kippah, the traditional Jewish head covering, equating Jews to "big problems."

(Screenshot/YouTube) 

A comment on a video about Alan Dershowitz having “Mossad Ties.” 

The Sun Will Rise Again

Antisemites and other promoters of hate have weaponized phrases like “The sun will rise again” or “The sun will rise and we will try again” to covertly endorse Nazi ideology and white supremacy, seemingly in hopes of establishing a National Socialist state. In social media posts promoting these sentiments, the phrases are commonly accompanied by images of a rising sun alongside neo-Nazi imagery and logos associated with extremist or terrorist groups. These phrases are also used in pop culture or in other ways that are unrelated to hate, so context must be considered when analyzing the use of these terms.

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An antisemitic account posts a phrase with an image of a swastika.

Totally [x] Day

Phrases such as Totally Nice Day, Totally Kind Day, Totally Joyful Day, Totally Magical Day and Totally Fine Day are alternative ways to phrase hateful slogans used by extremists that call for the mass death of marginalized groups. Respectively, these stand for Total N***** Death/TND, Total Kike Death/TKD, Total Jew Death/TJD, Total Muslim Death/TMD and Total Fag Death/TFD.

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White supremacist user posting “Totally Joyful Day” reference alongside an image of white supremacist propaganda.