Google has removed a Chrome extension that identified the names of prominent Jews in media and politics. If a website contained a specific name on that list, the plug-in would place parentheses around it.
This story was first published by Mic, which earlier this week published an investigation into the online tactics of white supremacists.
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The “Coincidence Detector” Chrome plugin used by Anti-Semites, Neo-Nazis and white nationalists who begun using three sets of parentheses encasing a Jewish surname — for example (((Fleishman))) — to identify and target Jews for harassment on blogs and major social media sites like Twitter, Mic reorts.
See one white supremacist tweeted, “It’s closed captioning for the Jew-blind.”
@JeffreyGoldberg @TradYouth @Max_Fisher It’s closed captioning for the Jew-blind
— EricStriker (@Pr0tocolsrReal) November 18, 2015
The extension dates back at least a year reportedly had 2, 473 users and a rating of 5 out of 5 stars.
Google removed the Coincidence Detector extension from its Chrome store at 9:30 p.m. ET Thursday as it violated the company’s hate speech policy, which doesn’t allow “content advocating against groups of people based on their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, or sexual orientation/gender identity.”
Coincidence Detector is just the latest example of how racist groups are targeting Jewish people online.
The extension was developed by a group under the name “altrightmedia.”
In response to the recent online harassment, Twitter users — from various backgrounds — have started to put parentheses around their names as a symbol of solidarity, according to abc17news.
“I’m not Jewish but I have a sense of humor, ” Xeni Jardin, a journalist and editor at Boing Boing, told CNNMoney.
