iFunny
 Logo as of 2014 | |
| Developer(s) | iFunny Inc., FunCorp |
|---|---|
| Initial release | April 26, 2011 |
| Website | https://ifunny.co/ |
iFunny is a Russian-owned[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] humor-based website and mobile application that consists of memes in the form of images, videos, and animated GIFs submitted by its members. The mobile version of the site also features a built-in meme creator tool. The app describes itself as a "community for meme lovers and viral memes around the internet".[8]
History
The application first launched on April 26, 2011, on iOS devices, November 25, 2011, on Android,[8] and on April 11, 2013, iFunny.co went up as the desktop alternative to the application.
Association with violence
Some users and content on the website have been associated with far-right extremism and mass shootings.[9][10][11][12]
Samuel Woodward
On January 12, 2018, 20-year-old Samuel Woodward was arrested and charged with first-degree murder for the stabbing of Blaze Bernstein. Woodward is a member of the neo-Nazi terrorist group Atomwaffen Division.[13] Woodward had a large following on iFunny under the moniker "Saboteur", and often posted content that was racist, violent, or related to white supremacy. iFunny users subsequently turned Bernstein’s death into a meme.[14][15]
Justin Olsen
On August 7, 2019, 18-year-old Justin Olsen from Boardman, Ohio was arrested for making posts on iFunny that supported mass shootings of Planned Parenthood. The FBI found over 10,000 rounds of ammunition and 25 guns at his home. He told authorities that the posts he made were in a joking manner.[16]
Farhan Sheikh
On August 16, 2019, the FBI arrested 19-year-old Farhan Sheikh for iFunny posts threatening to murder people at a women's health clinic that was less than 5 miles away from his home. On a post, he wrote that he would "proceed to slaughter and murder any doctor, patient or visitor." He made it clear on his account that the posts were not satirical by writing that it's "NOT a satirical account. I post what I mean, and i WILL carry out what I post [sic]”.[17]
Alexander Treisman
On May 28, 2020, 19-year-old Alexander Treisman was initially arrested for carrying concealed weapons and was separately indicted for possession of child pornography, but was later discovered to have made posts on Reddit and iFunny threatening to assassinate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. In one iFunny post, he said, “Should I kill Joe Biden?”. He was found in a van with four rifles, a 9mm handgun, explosive materials, and books on bomb making. Police subsequently found 6,721 images and 1,248 videos of child pornography on eight different digital devices.[18]
Joshua Doctor
On March 12, 2021, 21-year-old Joshua Doctor from Holland, Michigan was arrested and charged with terrorism for making death threats towards Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and Gretchen Whitmer on iFunny. In the posts, he wrote that he would "be the catalyst" for a revolution. Bomb-making instructions were found on his smartphone as well.[19]
References
- ^ "Mobile Fraud Targets Swing State Voters In Russian-Owned App With History Of White Supremacism". forbes.com. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
- ^ "Memes and fake climate news are a bad combination. A Russian-owned meme-sharing site's users are taking aim at Biden's climate policy". grist.org. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
- ^ "How Russia is leveraging insecure mobile apps to radicalize disaffected males". securityboulevard.com. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
- ^ "(APPLICANT) Okrujnost LLC LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY RUSSIAN FED. 2, Pushkin Street Penza, Penza Region RUSSIAN FED. 440008". trademark.islaws.com. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
- ^ "IFUNNY - Trademark Details". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
- ^ "IFUNNY". tmregister.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-10-11.
- ^ "iFunny Team Email Formats & Employee Contacts". signalhire.com. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
- ^ a b "iFunny – fresh memes, gifs and videos - Apps on Google Play". play.google.com. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
- ^ "iFunny Has Become A Hub For White Nationalism". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
- ^ Mack Lamoureux, Mack (November 14, 2019). "Neo-Nazi Terror Groups Are Using iFunny to Recruit". Vice. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
- ^ Broderick, Ryan (August 26, 2019). "iFunny Is Trying To Fix Its Far-Right Problem By Shutting Up Its Moderators". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
- ^ Broderick, Ryan (August 26, 2019). "iFunny Moderators Say They Have A Nazi Problem That The Site's Leaders Won't Fix". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
- ^ Olmstead, Molly (2018-01-31). "The Man Suspected of Killing Blaze Bernstein Attended a Three-Day Nazi "Hate Camp"". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
- ^ "The Man Accused Of Killing His Gay Classmate Was Sexually 'Confused,' Attorney Says". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
- ^ Archive, View Author; Author, Email the; Twitter, Follow on; feed, Get author RSS (2018-01-20). "Photo shows 'Ivy League killer' pretending to crush friend's skull". New York Post. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
{{cite web}}:|first=has generic name (help) - ^ "iFunny Has Become A Hub For White Nationalism". BuzzFeed News.
- ^ Levenson, Eric (August 21, 2019). "This little-known meme site has hosted two mass shooting threats this month". CNN.
- ^ "A 19-year-old with a van full of guns and explosives plotted to assassinate Biden, federal officials say". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
- ^ Shamsian, Jacob. "A Michigan man was charged with making death threats to Biden, Pelosi, and Whitmer on a meme website". Business Insider.