“No Kings” and an online tool that promoted Trump’s resistance
Wilson, who had attended political protests in the past but had never been involved in organizing them, joined the group’s discrepancies channel to support the plan.
“Even in my wildest dreams, I thought my first protest, which I organized with another group of Pennsylvanians, showed up to 200 people,” Wilson tells Wired. “And I think the next one would be 300 or 400, so I’m optimistic now, to keep this energy up.”
Like Wilson, many of SubredDit’s 311,000 subscribers and many of the group’s 17,000 members of Discord have no experience organising protests. Still, they felt they had to do it.
“We need to defend democracy, and it is up to us, as no one else will do it for us.
The 50501 group uses a variety of other online platforms to coordinate efforts, including encrypted messaging apps such as signals and matrices that small subgroups use for sensitive conversations. Platforms like Mobilize.us While participants will be able to share information about upcoming protests, state-level groups will come up with signs and ideas for shared Google docs.
“Everyone communicates using different strategies, so it’s all over the place,” said TJ Demetriou, spokesman for the 50501 subgroup for veterans. “If you’re involved in several different groups, it can be confusing.”
Discord is the primary platform for planning and assigning volunteer positions within local groups, but also serves as a place for the community to diverge. Following the group’s protest on March 4th, many of the members gathered on the group’s discrepancies servers to watch Trump’s speeches to a joint session of Congress.
The “general chat” channel was quickly filled with anger, not with what Trump was saying, but with reactions from Democrats in the room who decided on the best way to stand up to Trump. Wear a pink blouse and Lift small signs No one could see it.
“I’m holding a sign in place of boos, not a child,” one member wrote incredibly. “A bundle of spinless fucks,” another added after other Democrats didn’t come to Texas Representative Al Green’s defense. Removed from the room to hold back cards.
“Well, I’m glad you guys are protesting because the sacred shit was a weak show from Dem from their bitch = sic paddles and pink shirts and blue tie,” another member wrote.
The group has had many successes, but unfortunately some civil wars are distracting.
In April, the original 50501 post known online as Evolved bacteria, confined SubredDit completely, claiming that some national groups were trying to control the 50501 group for their own purposes. According to subsequent posts on Reddit, Fungi believed someone had tried to submit a trademark application for 50,501 people. Members of the 50501 Leadership Group later claimed in a Reddit post there were attempts to create a 501C4 entity by trademarking their names, but this was “made by three independent, independent groups that were not entirely affiliated with the broader 50501 group.”