Looks like the “OK boomer” meme is the latest to be snuffed by Twitter after a popular video surfaced of a girl in a Bernie Sanders shirt and shared on U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden’s feed.
Twitter updated their Terms and Conditions adding old people to the list of protected classes after the “OK boomer” TikTok video featuring a dancing Bernie Sanders supporter went viral and spammed in Joe Biden’s replies.
Users are now reporting being banned for targeted harassment for calling certain U.S. politicians and journalists “boomers.” Is Twitter banning the “OK boomer” meme to protect the image of a certain U.S. presidential candidate?
NEWS: Kotaku editor called boomer for thinking FF7 is too complicated.
Boomer derived from baby boomer which a term used to describe a person who was born between 1946 and 1964. But the meme-savvy generation that has been dubbed ‘millenials’ by baby boomers have weaponized the term in hilarious fashion.
The term millienial today has negative connotations because there’s been a plethora of articles describing them as lazy, entitled, uneducated and stupid. Now the term ‘OK boomer’ is used, in most cases, just to disregard criticism from the elderly.
Okie BOOMER KEKW #Bernie2020 ??✨ pic.twitter.com/6pjzZpr1Pe
— neeko (@neekolul) March 2, 2020
But now, on Twitter at least, the term is considered hate speech and can qualify you for an instant ban, if used as targeted harassment.
The CEO Twitter himself failed to give a straight answer as to what actually constitutes targeted harassment on his platform when interviewed by Joe Rogan leaving the rule very ambiguous. There have been many reports of people getting banned from simply responding to criticism which indicates that the use of “OK boomer” may be considered targeted harassment even though its just a reply to someone else’s comment.
This isn’t the first meme that Twitter has sent to its grave; the NPC and #LearnToCode memes have been completely banned of Twitter and you can be instantly banned for using them.
The “OK boomer” meme wasn’t targeted until a Twitch streamer made a TikTok video of herself bouncing around in a Bernie Sanders shirt miming along to the song ‘OK boomer’.
Twitch streamer Neeko made “OK Boomer” TikTok video in response to Joe Biden?
It is alleged that the video was done as a response to Joe Biden, who has on many occasions been caught losing track of his thoughts and rambling on like a boomer, when he challenged Sanders’ socialist views.
Regardless of the original intentions of the TikTok video, it is now spammed everytime Joe Biden’s Twitter account posts something leading us to believe that the recent actions against the meme may be related.
Is Twitter banning “OK boomer” meme after it was used to make fun of Joe Biden?
Twitter are actively taking down videos that make fun of Joe Biden which kind of implies that he is, in fact, the old person that new rule aims to protect.
Joe Biden misspoke at one of his events urging people to go and vote on Super Thursday instead of Super Tuesday. People thought the slip of tongue was hilarious because Biden was unintentionally interfering in his own election. When people decided to share Biden’s blunder their accounts were terminated for posting ‘misleading voter information’.
ok boomer @JoeBiden https://t.co/4tOXSuGxi3
— Vermin Supreme (TM) (@VerminSupreme) March 8, 2020
To make matters even worse Twitter, for the first time ever, enforced a rule that nobody even knew existed; manipulating media.
Joe Biden had another one of his moments where he, for a moment, accidentally told people to re-elect Trump before correcting himself moments later. A small clip of the incident was shared and the person who originally uploadeded it got suspended. Others have also reported that they’ve been banned for re-uploading the clip.
It may be completely unrelated but these new Twitter rules seem to be in place to protect a specific individual, or so many are starting to believe.
What are your thoughts on Twitters decision to fight against the “OK boomer” meme? Is Twitter banning the “OK boomer” meme justified or has the social platform taken censorship and moderation too far? Let us know in the comments below (coming soon to AMP pages).