Diagolon is an excellent example of how irony poisoning can be used to warp an online joke into a movement.
Irony poisoning is a term used to describe the process of desensitization to extremist, hateful rhetoric by the use of “humour,” and especially on the internet -- memes -- that assist in sliding a person further into the spheres of fascism, white supremacy and violence.
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When asked why Diagolon targets communism, Simons said the fear of “encroaching communism” is rife amongst conspiracy theorist movements as an insult against government policies, but in neo-fascist and militia movements it stands for something else.
“The fear of communism actually comes from Nazism and neo-Nazism where Communist is a placeholder for Jews,” she said. “In neo-Nazi circles…that's why you see anti-Communist symbols and imagery amongst neo-Nazis and racist skinheads and things like that. So this idea of being opposed to communism in place of being opposed to Jews because it's a bit more palatable, goes back a long time.”
For Diagolon, Simons said the term communist has morphed into “anyone that they don't like,” or is their opposition. However, Simons pointed out there is a “massive contingent” of Diagolon members who are anti-Semitic and racist who likely use the term as the historically-derived placeholder for Jewish people.
