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Glite Dictionary
digital brownshirt

digital brownshirt

9.9
A person who uses threats or harassment online to silence others
  • noun
  • /ˈdɪdʒɪtəl ˈbraʊnʃɜrt/
  • Offensive
translation icon : matón digital
  • Several journalists faced coordinated attacks from digital brownshirts after publishing critical articles.

Examples

  • The politician denounced campaigns run by digital brownshirts attempting to intimidate her supporters.

  • Some forums have policies to quickly ban known digital brownshirts to keep discussions civil.

  • The digital brownshirt attacked anyone who disagreed with him.

  • Many digital brownshirts use social media to spread their agenda.

  • After the controversial article was published, several authors faced harassment from digital brownshirts who sought to silence dissenting opinions.

  • The committee decided to take action against the digital brownshirts who were threatening anyone that voiced criticism online.

  • In online debates, digital brownshirts often resort to intimidation tactics to ensure their viewpoints dominate the conversation.

Synonyms

troll
vsdigital brownshirt
  • Offensive
129 6.4

A person who posts messages to annoy or upset others online

aims to silence opponents through intimidation and harassment rather than provocation
keyboard warrior
vsdigital brownshirt
  • Offensive
1 7.3

A person who posts angry or attacking comments online without acting in real life

aims to silence opponents using intimidation or harassment

Antonyms

open-minded
80 3.7

Ready to listen to new ideas and accept different views

tolerant
72 3.2

Accepting of people and ideas that are different

How Aggressive

digital brownshirt
  • Offensive
9.9
harasser
11 6.3
troll
  • Offensive
129 6.4
critic
563 3.0

Surface Forms

digital brownshirt singular
digital brownshirts plural

Morphology

digital + brownshirt

The phrase composes the transparent adjective 'digital' (online) with 'brownshirt', a culturally specific term for Nazi enforcers; if a learner knows the historical/political meaning of 'brownshirt' the combined sense 'an online enforcer/harasser' follows predictably. However, 'brownshirt' is not literally derived from 'brown' + 'shirt' and requires cultural/historical knowledge, so the overall expression depends on background knowledge and is not fully transparently inferable to all learners.

Etymology

The term digital brownshirt comes from the old brownshirts, a violent group in 1930s Germany who wore brown shirts and used threats to scare and silence opponents. So a digital brownshirt is someone online who uses abuse or planned attacks 'to silence' other people.