I Know You From Somewhere, a comedic short film written and directed by Andrew Fitzgerald, is an authentic example of the internet’s worst tendencies. The trouble starts offline: A young woman named Katherene gets in a screaming match with a friend a cheating boyfriend. A stranger captures video of the dustup, including a moment in which Katherene accuses her friend of having a “black heart.” When the video is uploaded to YouTube, viewers mistake Katherene’s words for racial slurs, turning this average woman into the target of a humongous internet mob.

Fitzgerald was fascinated by what he calls undercurrents of hostility and condescension online. “Most of the internet looks like a digital version of a bathroom stall at a truckstop,” he…

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