Irony poisoning
Process of normalising a belief with humour
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Irony poisoning is the process or altered state wherein one has a diminished capacity for distinguishing between one's own genuine beliefs and ironic beliefs through an overuse of irony. This can manifest in either an inability to state one's beliefs in a genuine way or genuinely echoing provocative sentiments they once held only ironically.[1] Appearing in The New York Times in 2018, the term is often used to describe the normalization of extremist views through the use of humor, particularly in online spaces.[1][2][3][4][5]
Notable examples
The New York Times used the term to describe the chain of events that led up to the attempt of German man Dirk Denkhaus to set fire to a house sheltering refugees after exchanging racist memes and Nazi greetings online.[6][1] In 2022, the Canadian Anti-Hate Network accused Diagolon of using irony poisoning to desensitize users to hateful rhetoric through the use of online jokes and memes.[7]
