I was flicking around the channels, and came across this story about artist Matt Furie, and his fight to reclaim his character from alt right hate and conspiracy groups. To anyone working on your own characters, and concerned about your online image, this is a must watch.
https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/feels-good-man/
I have to confess, I always thought "Pepe" had started out as a hate symbol. My first encounter with him years ago was so repulsive, that the character had seemed to be designed that way.
