The gesture – which the ADL claimed is a signal for “white power” – joined the group’s ever-lengthening list of hate symbols along with 35 other memes, including the bowl haircut sported by Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof, the Jewish-stereotype cartoon of the “Happy Merchant,” and the slogan “It’s OK to be white.” The list has 214 entries, from the obvious (burning crosses) to the bizarre (over a dozen numbers including 12, 13, 14, 28, 109, and 110).

Explaining that OK is “used by many on the right – not just extremists – for the purpose of trolling liberals” as well as purportedly expressing support for white supremacy, the group warns would-be hate-hunters that “caution must be used in evaluating instances of this symbol’s use.” The ADL plans to distribute a brochure including the new symbols and their descriptions to law enforcement and school districts around the country.

The move represented a reversal for the ADL, which released a statement in 2017 explaining that the symbol was a “popular trolling gesture” with its origins in a prank devised by posters on the anonymous message board 4chan.

“Operation O-KKK” saw a legion of trolls flood social media and civil rights groups with claims the “OK” gesture was a symbol of white supremacy, complete with lines tracing how one could discern the letters W and P (for “white power”) in the gesture.

Many were indignant at having the ubiquitous gesture classed as hateful.

“I use it often, never as a hate symbol, and I am not letting the ADL follow some pranksters on 4-Chan into making the OK hand sign some kind of secret Klan gang signal,” one Twitter user said.

“This decision by the ADL isn’t just dumb, it’s dangerous,”said another.