“Trollface” is a cartoon drawing of the head of a man with a large, malicious smile that has become, like “Pepe the Frog,” one of the most well-known of the cartoon meme images popularized by websites such as 4chan.
According to the Know Your Meme website, “Trollface” originated in 2008 in a cartoon intended to mock the constant trolling on the website 4chan. The image became popular on 4chan itself, whose users created many versions of the image, often accompanied by phrases such as “Problem?” or “You mad, bro?”
Inevitably, racist and anti-Semitic versions of the “Trollface” meme appeared, the most common of which pictured “Trollface” as a Nazi or as Adolf Hitler, or appearing in the context of Nazi imagery. In some other versions, “Trollface” was depicted as a Jew.
The great majority of “Trollface” memes are not racist or anti-Semitic in nature and no one should assume that mere use of a “Trollface” image has a connection to white supremacy or bigotry. Only “Trollface” memes used in conjunction with Nazi, racist or anti-Semitic imagery or language would be considered hate symbols.
Just as racist versions of “Pepe the Frog” and “Trollface” exist, so too do bigoted versions of some other cartoon images popularized by 4chan and similar sites, such as Wojak/Feels Guy. Again, only the versions of such characters that appear in a clearly bigoted context would be considered hate symbols.
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