FBI Documents Associate Internet Slang Like ‘Based’ and ‘Red Pill’ With ‘Extremism’

New documents released Monday warned that common internet lingo is being associated with “Violent Extremism” by the FBI.

The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project said it used a Freedom of Information Act request to expose FBI documents that include glossaries showing that common internet slang has been flagged as an indication of “Involuntary Celibate Violent Extremism” or “Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism.”

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The one term in the glossary is “Red Pill,” which comes from the 1999 film “The Matrix” and has been used a metaphor for seeing hidden or politically incorrect truths about the modern world, particularly when it comes to politics or dating. The FBI list of key terms defines it as “a belief shared by many online communities that society is corrupt, and that the believer is a victim of this corruption.”

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The FBI list for terms associated with “Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism” (RMVE) has a mix of extreme terms and innocuous ones.

“Red Pill” also appears in this list, but with a different description: “In the context of RMVE ideology, taking the red pill or becoming ‘redpilled’ indicates the adoption of racist, anti-Semitic, or fascist beliefs.”

“Based” is defined by the FBI as a word used to “refer to someone who has been converted to racist ideology, or as a way of indicating ideological agreement.” In regular parlance, based is a context-specific word coined by rapper Lil B that can mean, as KnowYourMeme describes, anything ranging from “something that is ‘agreeable’ and ‘cool,’” to something “considered anti-woke.”

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