The FBI uses a “glossary of terms” to look for online that could indicate someone is involved with “violent extremism,” according to documents obtained by The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project.
The flagged terms include “redpilled,” first popularized by the 1999 film “The Matrix,” “based,” “looksmaxxing,” and the names “Chad” and “Stacey.”
The FBI also flags phrases that include “it’s over” and “just be first.”
The documents were obtained by The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project. (The Daily Signal is Heritage’s multimedia news organization.)
Such words and phrases have come to be code for certain extremists who communicate online with others like them, according to the FBI’s glossary of words indicating “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism” and a list of “key terms” about “involuntary celibate violent extremism.”
According to the FBI document, the word “cell” is short for incel, which in turn is short for “involuntary celibate,” or an online community of men who think they can’t attract women even though they want to be in a relationship.
“Docs we obtained show how @FBI equates protected online speech to violence,” the Oversight Project says in a tweet. “According to @FBI using the terms ‘based’ or ‘red pilled’ are signs of ‘Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism.’”
Another tweet from the watchdog project says: “Using terms like “looksmaxxing,” “Chad,” and “Stacy” will get you on an @FBI list for “Involuntary Celibate Violent Extremism.”
The FBI didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry Wednesday from The Daily Signal for this news report.
The FBI documents show several words that the average person probably would associate with racist or white supremacist individuals or groups, such as “alt right,” “Zionist Occupied Government,” “blood and soil,” and “great replacement theory.”
However, many of the terms on the list of words the FBI is watching out for could be used with no context involving race or extremist views.
According to the FBI glossary, “based” means “someone who has been converted to racist ideology.”
“Red pill” or being “redpilled” means someone is accepting racist, antisemitic or fascist beliefs, according to the FBI.
The same term has a different meaning for “involuntary celibate” individuals, according to the FBI. For members of this group, “red pill” means “society is corrupt,” and they are victims of the corruption. A “black pill” is a term meaning that the corrupt society can “only be changed through massive societal restructuring, often including violence.”
The word “Chad” is a “race-specific term used to describe an idealized version of a male who is successful at gaining sexual and romantic attention from women,” according to the FBI list of key terms. The female version of this is “Stacey.”
“Looksmaxxing” indicates an “intent to become more attractive,” the FBI says, while the phrase “just be first” is jargon among “incels” for targeting minors for sex.
Editor’s note: The original version of this article misstated the way in which the Oversight Project obtained the documents.
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