"And We Will Fight For Our Race!" A Measurement Study of Genetic Testing Conversations on Reddit and 4chan

Abstract

Recent progress in genomics has enabled an emerging market for "direct-to-consumer" genetic testing. Nowadays, companies like 23andMe and AncestryDNA provide affordable health, genealogy, and ancestry reports, and have already tested tens of millions of customers. At the same time, far-right groups have also reportedly taken an interest in genetic testing, using them to attack minorities and prove their genetic "purity." In this paper, we present a quantitative measurement study shed- ding light on how genetic testing is being discussed on Web communities in Reddit and 4chan. We collect 1.3M comments from both platforms, posted over 27 months, using a set of 280 keywords related to genetic testing. We then use NLP and computer vision tools to identify trends, themes, and topics of discussion. Our analysis shows that genetic testing attracts a lot of attention on Reddit and 4chan, with discussions often including highly toxic language expressed through hateful, racist, and misogynistic comments. In particular, on 4chan's politically incorrect board (/pol/), content from genetic testing conversations involves several alt-right personalities and openly antisemitic rhetoric, often conveyed through memes. Finally, we find that discussions build around user groups, from technology enthusiasts to communities promoting fringe political views.