Protesters are using a variety of technology tools to organize rallies, record police violence and communicate during the marches sweeping the U.S. and other countries following the death of George Floyd.
Organizers are also using Telegram, an app that allows private messages to be sent to thousands of people at once, creating channels for specific cities to give updates on protest times and locations, as well as updates on where police are making arrests or staging.
One New York City Telegram channel for the protests grew from just under 300 subscribers on Monday to nearly 2,500 by Friday.
In one Telegram channel, the ADL found, participants suggested murdering protesters, then spreading rumors to blame the deaths on police snipers.
“Good time to stroke race relations” and “post black live’s don’t matter stickers,” a user posted – with misspellings – to the Reformthestates Telegram channel, according to the ADL.
