01x07 - Provoke

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: The Web transforms us. We become data... code... uploading our very selves... ...to a place we call the cloud. But this cloud is grounded in hardware, a chaos of code. But with the right tools, you can find the signal in the noise.

man: Everything is on YouTube. Everything is on Facebook and Twitter, but the world of social media is a step removed from reality.

Mikki: These are people who would not say these things to your face, but they will say them to you behind a computer screen.

Hardiman: If you disrespect somebody on Facebook, thousands of people see that post.

Now this guy wants to get some revenge.

Mitchell: For young people, image is everything. I seen people arrested, assaulted.

I've seen people k*lled because of what they put up on social media.

Narrator: Whatever's on your mind, you can post it online. Your beliefs, your fears, your life, your style. But when you express yourself in here, you expose yourself out there. To hate. Say your piece on social media, and you might incite a w*r. Make your mark online, and you might make yourself a target.

[Horns honking]

Khalil: East New York is the only neighborhood that I know that there could be a sh**t-out one day and then by that next morning, everybody be right back outside and just going like nothing ever happened.

Mitchell: This is where the crime is most highest. This is where the homicide rates, unfortunately, are still the most highest. One of the most dangerous places in New York City. My name is Andre T. Mitchell. I am the founder and Executive Director for Man Up! Incorporated.

Narrator: Man Up!'s goal is simple but elusive -- to try and curb the bloodshed in their own backyard. And they're focusing on neighborhood teens like Khalil.

I wanted you to take a time-out from your daily responsibilities to have a conversation around social media and the issue of v*olence.

Your generation is so Internet-involved.

Like, how many of you would honestly say that you live in the social media?

The majority of you.

So when there's this beef, right?

When somebody have issues -- "I got issue with that person."

First place you identify or know about it is where?

Teens: Facebook.

Facebook.

Do you see people beefing literally?

Yeah. Like, they cursin' each other out.

"Meet me here."

Mm-hmm.

Other friends jumpin' in. All that. It's --

Out there.

It's all-out w*r.

So we see it escalating.

We see something materializing in front of your face.

Man: Oh!

Mitchell: v*olence is the end-thing.

Bitch!

Get him!

man: Whoa!

Mitchell: People feed off of violent situations, fights that they see, 'cause if they get to post that fight, it makes them a popular person.

On social media, it will start off as like a pride thing, like, somebody try to diss you in front of somebody, then it's just like, on Facebook, like, and then people comment, and...

narrator: Social media is platform for self-representation, a place to pose as someone you're not. Or to express who you really are, unfiltered.

Jamie: Social media has allowed folks to find their voice, to have that freedom in that community and to have that safe space where you can talk about things that matter to you.

It's important, and it makes a difference.

Narrator: This is Jamie, a freelance journalist, wife, and mother.

Ooh!

You can drive that truck.

This one?

I had an interest in writing comics.

I wrote this script in about three days.

And they accepted it, and I'm like, "I love this job!"

[Laughter]

Narrator: And this is Mikki who's also a writer and a long-time friend of Jamie, both online and off.

Jamie: We are inveterate jokers with each other.

We have a very "Laverne & Shirley" sort of relationship.

[Laughs]

Partners in crime.

[Both laugh]

They make Key Lime cupcakes with a raspberry swirl.

Am I getting any?

I don't know yet.

Narrator: They publish their work online, so social media has been their key to success. One hashtag Mikki drafted, #solidarityisforwhitewomen, became, for a time, the world's top-trending hashtag on Twitter. Now combined, they have over 50,000 followers with a reach of over 8 million people... ...a viewing audience triple the population of Chicago.

Mikki: So I use Twitter to discuss social issues. I tend to talk a lot about police brutality, feminism, race, representation in media. People either love me or they hate me.

I am visibly black and female on the Internet.

And there's a certain amount of r*cist "how dare you" that tends to come pouring out of people.

Women of color online are generally seen as a nuisance, I think.

I am "the angry black woman," even when I'm not angry.

Loud, obnoxious, you know, overly concerned with race, blah, blah, blah. I mean...

You can't just be a person in the eyes of some people.

It's kind of borderline abusive, especially when you are vocal about things like race and gender.

So I might be a n*gg*r bitch, or a dumb n*gg*r ho, or like, whore.

"You know, I bet if you got some d*ck, you wouldn't act the way you do or you wouldn't be such a mouthy bitch."

"I'll gut your kids in front of you before I k*ll you."

"Someone should r*pe you."

"Someone should take you out back and b*at some sense into you."

Things like that.

Narrator: What they're talking about are trolls -- people who go online to antagonize others. Their presence permeates every corner of the web, and these haters are more connected to each other than you may realize. On places like reddit and other online bulletin boards, trolls post how-to guides. They praise each other's work and look to one another for inspiration.

Jamie: I don't read the comments section on a lot of the stuff I write because I don't want to deal. It has changed how I use social media. I'm a lot more reluctant to broach certain subjects or talk about certain things because of the blowback.

narrator: No one wants to feel constrained when voicing their opinions on the web. So one day, Jamie got a little creative.

Jamie: I was talking with a friend, and they dared me to be white for a week.

I was like, "Psht. I can do that."

I Googled like, some random white dude. I put him in my avi. In terms of conversation, say the same things I've been saying as a black woman. And the way that folks interacted with me was like night and day. I was much more reasonable and easy to talk to. What started out as a joke really became my way of protecting myself online. And you know, it's become like a shield.

narrator: While some use social media to shield themselves from hate, for others, it's a w*apon of provocation, persuasion, and w*r.

[Horns honking]

Man: The minute you start to form relationships with computers and usernames, you start to lose your moral compass.

narrator: This man doesn't want you to know his name or see his face. It's too risky.

man: I've got a lived experience through my own understanding of what extremism did to me. An incredible journey in between isolation, anger, grievance, hate and the support, potentially, for v*olence.

narrator: This former jihadi has found a new calling -- deploying inside knowledge of the recruitment and radicalization of Muslim youth. He is now working to combat extremism online through a character that conceals his identity while animating his message. Meet Abdullah-X.

What I can't understand, though, is the pure hate and indiscriminate v*olence, that somehow, these people attempt to justify through my religion.

Man: The character was created to reach parts of the dark, deep online domain that strategic communications are never going to reach.

There's no doubt that most of the recruitment and processes of radicalization that particularly young people are facing -- it's happening in the online space through various kind of social media.

I was created to safeguard some young Muslims from falling into the trap of believing their own hype.

What gives you life is jihad.

Abdullah-X: The regime you are trying to topple actually helped create you.

[Siren wails]

Narrator: For every att*ck, for every action, Abdullah-X posts a reaction.

Abdullah-X: We're not irrational beings who have no agency.

We do get to decide.

Narrator: A call to conscience.

Abdullah-X: We don't just condemn it.

We hold you responsible -- the so-called Islamic State.

Your deeds are your doing.

We hold you to blame.

It is the first digital w*r.

It's the first w*r waged online.

[Singing in native language]

Narrator: It's a w*r for hearts and minds and cliques. Around half of !sis' social media is not violent at all. It's propaganda -- much of it aimed at young Muslims adrift in the west.

man: This kind of jihadi narrative in the online space on social media -- it appears like some kind of glorified kind of golden age.

You've listened to a few online videos on YouTube and you think that there is something known as the Islamic State that you need to die for. There is a growing number of young Muslims who feel grievances around identity, around belonging, around loyalty, around duty.

What is right, what is wrong, what is v*olence, what is extreme, what is acceptable, what are values.

To the lies and hate spewed out by extremists, we are not stupid.

We are brave.

Man: What we're trying to do is create that moment of doubt deep-down in that young person's mind.

narrator: A moment of doubt, a moment of caution, an interruption. It's what Andre and his team at Man Up! are trying to do in East New York -- interrupt the cycle of v*olence.

Mitchell: In this briefing, we just want to make sure that we have a better understanding of what's going on on both sides.

Narrator: Many of these men are reformed criminals themselves and well-connected to the streets.

It's Friday, so we're gonna try to hit most of our target hot zones, do some canvassing.

Let's just be really, really, really, really safe out there.

Washington: The role of a v*olence Interrupter is to mediate beef. They hear about a beef, they get right on it, and God forbid, if somebody was to get sh*t, their job is to prevent retaliations.

What's up?

Our last incident was 17 days ago. Since then, it's been quiet. Allegedly, both parties have been on defense, so there hasn't been a retaliation. Social media has become a way to see certain things coming, and then if it's somebody that's close to me, or if it's a friend or they beefing with a friend, you know, if I feel like I could be, you know, a help to try to de-escalate it or resolve it, I will.

What's wrong with them?

Man, nothing.

n*gg*s.

Everything good, though, fellas?

Yeah, we cool.

It's good to see you, though, man.

Woman: Yeah. And he finished school.

Y'all know he finished school.

Word? Staying out of trouble.

We need to get on board, you heard?

All right.

All right.

Narrator: Man Up! uses Facebook and Twitter to check the pulse of the street, but they're not the only ones. Eight out of every 10 law enforcement professionals patrol social media -- a new form of digital stop-and-frisk.

Mitchell: I've seen people arrested because of their affiliation in their social networks because they may have been, you know, a person in a picture, part of an alleged group of sorts.

And it's incriminating. It's like you burying yourself. You know, the Prosecutor's Office, the District Attorney's Offices are using this to help convict people.

narrator: There's even a law on the books in California, Penal Code Section 182-185, that a person who willfully promotes, furthers, assists, or benefits from a g*ng crime can be charged with conspiracy.

Washington: We're just not sharing information with the police. Our job is not to get nobody locked up.

Our job is to keep our participants out on the streets and get them on the right path.

[Siren wails]

Narrator: Different streets, same avenue. Here on the South Side of Chicago, what you post on social media can make you rich and it can get you k*lled.

White: You take everyday life in the streets -- weapons, the dr*gs. Basically, the streets inspire the music.

[Record scratching]

♪♪

[Indistinct rapping]

And then you make it into a song and you take all your anger and you turn it into hyperactivity.

My name is Eric White. I go by the name --

My stage name is IMGBF.

Check. 1, 2, 1, 2. Mike check.

Mike check. Sounds like my mike's nice.

All right, let's go. Come on, we got to get rich, man.

Let's go, baby. Come on, man.

This is how we get rich.

This is money, baby.

Let's get it.

♪ If I throw her bandz, she gon' drop it low ♪
♪ When she do a dance, she take off her clothes ♪
♪ When she do a handstand, girl, get on the floor ♪
♪ Let me see you bend over, girl, touch your toes ♪
♪ Like, bust it, bust it, bust it open for a real n*gga ♪
♪ Cuff a bad chick and show you how to deal with her ♪
♪ Hey ♪

Damn, boy.

[Laughs]

Yeah. That's what I'm talking about. That's that million-dollar day, baby.

Hardiman: Well, a lot of young rappers feel if they get anywhere from 100,000 to 1 million views on their YouTube video, the record industry's gonna take notice and they might strike a big deal.

My name is Tio Hardiman, President of v*olence Interrupters, Incorporated.

[Siren wails]

Some of the guys are trying to put more v*olence in their videos than ever before because they want to be as seen as the guy that's gonna go over and beyond to make themselves look like they're tougher than most people.

Narrator: v*olence, dr*gs, and sex aren't anything new when it comes to music videos, but this is a new rap genre spread by social media called drill music.

♪ f*ckin' with them homeboys, you gon' get f*cked over ♪
♪ I'm insane ♪
♪ You know what's crackin', homey ♪

♪ I heard a n*gga snitchin' gon' get tied up ♪
♪ -Tied up - Bitch, run ♪

Narrator: Here, the lyrics hold a hidden message. Drill means k*ll. Clique is a g*ng. And cobra is a revolver.

Social media has become the new Hollywood.

A lot of young people, the mind-set today is if I sh**t somebody, I'm gonna be looked at like a hood superstar. And the music helps escalate some of the v*olence right now in Chicago.

People take it personal in their drill music.

You know, when you start saying names and everybody else, then that's when it's taken too far.

Hardiman: The drill music artists -- a lot of them think it's just, you know, entertainment, but when you out here rapping violent lyrics, you know, out here to the public, guys are looking at them, and the next thing you know, somebody loses their life.

Facebook and Twitter g*ng-banging.

That's what it is -- is cyber g*ng-banging.

[Chuckles] That's what it comes down to.

Narrator: The tension between some cliques has recently escalated. Rumors are that a rapper named Capo, a member of the Glo g*ng, was provoking a rival clique in his lyrics and tweets.

White: Capo was a former rap member -- he was associated with Chief Keef.

He got signed to a record label.

I just saw the talent in him at a young age.

♪ This that Chicago, Chiraq sh*t ♪
♪ Better keep a g*n ♪
♪ And it can happen any time, don't matter where... ♪

Hardiman: From what I'm hearing, I'm talking to some people, that Capo was, you know, like, basically was trying to, like, call some people out. I cannot confirm that.

man: He was coming down the street with backpack on, with his dreads on, walking. I don't know if the car turned around a corner, I don't know if it came down the street, but I know he came up Kingston. He was walking. A cop pulled up, and they started sh**ting at him. Hit him. He fell. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

[g*nsh*t]

White: I was perusing through my Facebook and then I saw a video of him actually laying there, you know, bleeding and everything.

woman: She said we got to keep him low.

Man: Whoa. You got to keep compressions.

Come on.

Come on. Please.

Yes, they did, man.

No.

Damn, man!

They hit him in his chest.

White: It was brutal, I mean, even though I'm out here, it was like I was actually right there.

I posted it.

I said "R.I.P. Capo, bro will be missed."

narrator: Social media has become an electronic graffiti wall, a place to post messages and provoke a reaction. And after Capo's death, to pay respects. But it's also a forum for unspeakable expressions of disrespect -- the cruel eulogies of heartless trolls.

Mikki: They call it griefing, where they go after someone who's talking about a recent loss in the family, that kind of thing.

And they one-up each other.

It's a game to them, like, they're getting off on knowing that they're freaking someone out. They're not thinking about the person on the other end and what impact they might be having.

There are people savvy enough to make bots, you know, so that even when they can't actually be trolling, they can still be theoretically harassing someone, upsetting someone.

Narrator: Bots are software tools that run automated tasks on the Internet. Some trolls are making their own bots, programming code into a w*apon. If the bot detects certain terms or hashtags like ♪feminism, then it will post a hateful comment automatically. It allows trolls to scale up their hate to keep the vitriol spewing 24/7. Well, two can play that game.

I'm about activate my own account.

Narrator: Jamie and Mikki are squaring off against the trolls with a bot of their own, nicknamed Porschia. The hope is to wear the trolls down at their own game, an endless loop of "I know you are, but what am I?"

Mikki: Basically, I just want the bot to tie them up, to keep them busy so that they think they're getting their little buzz of bothering someone.

Mm-hmm.

Here's how it works. If a troll posts a hateful message threatening to r*pe them, then their bot will respond with a r*pe statistic. For this test, they're using a dummy account and a more family-friendly term -- tomato.

We're just test-driving with the word "tomato."

We're not gonna do anything really offensive right now.

Okay, so we're gonna test it on yours, and then we can start putting in terms on the spreadsheet that makes the bot go.

We'll make sure the bot works, and then once we know that it responds and does the mute, then we'll update the spreadsheet the bot draws terms from so that we'll put stuff like "n*gg*r," "n*gg*r bitch"...

"Race baiter".

"Race baiter,"

"professional n*gg*r," um..."libtard."

Mm-hmm.

What else am I called a lot?

"Whore" and "slut" 'cause someone's gonna call me that.

All right, sending the tweet now.

All right.

Send your tweet.

Okay, I am not --

We have to wait a minute, right?

Right.

'Cause I still don't see anything.

It has to be a human amount of time.

All right.

I just got a response from Porschia to @whiteboxheaven that says "The tomato is a fruit.

Here's the Wikipedia article for tomatoes."

So it works.

Yes!

[Both laugh]

Yes!

So now we can update the spreadsheet with actual terms that we are likely to get and actual responses.

They can talk to the bot for that three or four tweets.

The bot doesn't care.

Mm-hmm.

The bot won't get mad. And then they're muted.

And we never have to see them again.

[Chuckles]

Narrator: For better and for worse, social media gives all of us a voice. Jamie and Mikki have found a way to at least mute some of the shrill and hateful voices. But humans aren't bots. And social media has become an essential tool of self-expression, self-promotion, self-obsession. We're digitizing identity itself into a curated impression of who we are, who we want to be.

Whatever you do when you're online, you write your history.

You punch those buttons, so there are consequences to every action.

man: We keep pushing young people in between, with us or against us.

Us or them.

Which decision do we think they're gonna make in a world that is increasingly polarized?

narrator: Will they, will we, will you choose to start a fight or stop one?

Mitchell: Whoever you are drawing yourself out to become online, maybe your children one day, in the future, will hold this up to you and say "Mom or Dad, was this really you?"

And you're gonna have to answer to it.

♪♪