Donald Trump and Thierry Baudet were both portrayed with the green head of Pepe the Frog. The frog grew from being a fairly innocent comic book character into a controversial internet icon. During the American presidential elections Pepe was even officially named as being a symbol of hate. Pepe now stands alongside the logo from the Ku Klux Klan and the swastika. How can a frog with ironic intentions end up like the symbol for the neo-Nazis? And is this designation justified?
There is a real culture war taking place online. On internet platforms such as 4chan, Reddit and YouTube we are seeing a boisterous group, mainly young men, who are turning against the establishment. In their opinion this means the established media and progressive politicians. With their own jargon and media channels the representatives of this internet culture express themselves through joking, provoking, baiting and trolling to be able to revolt against the established order and by doing so keeping freedom of speech safe.
Who is behind this trend? Why is this counterculture so enormously popular on the internet? And when does it stop being funny? Travel along through the fictitious land of Kekistan, where the residents are fighting against Normistan. The land where the so-called ‘Normies’ live, the people who do not even realize that a place like Kekistan even exists. A search in the twilight zone between internet trolls and the ruthless political reality of Alt-right.