Since early January, WallStreetBets, a popular Reddit board, has been calling on users to invest in GameStop stock. Users on the forum began purchasing GameStop stock, noticing that the stock had been heavily shorted, including by a hedge fund called Melvin Capital. This raised the stock price, and forced short sellers to repurchase the borrowed stock at a higher price. This, in turn further raised the price of the stock and created what is known as a "short squeeze." This has led to significant losses for short sellers and massive increase in GameStop stock prices, which increased by 1,700 percent since December.
In some circles on social media, the situation has been cheered on as a "David vs. Goliath" battle between Wall Street's elite and Reddit users. White supremacists added an antisemitic dimension to the narrative, claiming that this short squeeze is an effective way of targeting Jewish investors and the financial system, which they believe is controlled by the Jews. White supremacist Telegram channels have been celebrating the financial losses incurred by Jewish investors, and have been urging their followers to purchase GameStop stock, and not sell the stock they may have, in order to cause further losses to the Jews. Some users depicted the situation as an opportunity for a second Holocaust.
YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO THE MEMRI DOMESTIC TERRORISM THREAT MONITOR (DTTM) TO READ THE FULL REPORT. GOVERNMENT AND MEDIA CAN REQUEST A COPY BY WRITING TO DTTMSUBS@MEMRI.ORG WITH THE REPORT TITLE IN THE SUBJECT LINE.
The following content includes excerpts from Telegram, Instagram and 4chan from January 29 to February 2.
Antisemitism And GameStop
Many Telegram channels are posting content related to GameStop, adding antisemitic imagery. On January 29, 2021, a neo-Nazi Telegram channel posted an image of a GameStop store with Adolf Hitler in front of it holding a videogame controller.
Urging Followers To Participate
In addition to commenting on the events, white supremacist Telegram channels were urging their subscribers not to sell any GameStop stock they may have, and to buy more. Both actions were presented as ways to presumably hurt the Jews they believe to be behind the hedge funds.
On January 27, a far right extremist Telegram posted an image of a videogame controller and a Pepe the frog meme saying: "Buy some GameStop shares."
Suggesting White Supremacists Are Involved
On a number of Telegram channels, users were suggesting that white supremacists and neo-Nazis are playing a role in the GameStop short squeeze. A white supremacist Telegram channel posted on January 29 a photograph of Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders walking down a staircase while being saluted by German soldiers and others. In the background, Nazi flags were digitally altered to depict the GameStop logo instead of the Nazi swastika. The channel commented that this is what a future GameStop shareholder meeting would look like.
Individual users posted that they have purchased GameStop stock as well. On the Telegram channel of one white supremacist group, one follower posted on January 28, expressing hope that they can make money from the stock, and use it to help jailed white supremacists.
Holocaust References
The price of GameStop stock began to rise drastically around January 27, which is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. White supremacists linked the two events, with some referring to the short squeeze as a new Holocaust or an "actual Holocaust".
A white supremacist Telegram channel posted on January 28 an image of a figure with the Reddit logo driving a road roller labeled with the GameStop logo, crushing an antisemitic caricature of a Jew. The text of the meme reads: "Holocaust 2: GameStop Boogaloo."
The full text of this post is available to DTTM subscribers.
If you are a subscriber, log in here to read this report.
For information on the required credentials to access this material, visit the DTTM subscription page
