Fair enough, it is frustratingly hard to tell, especially because claiming "it was a joke bro" has been used, with surprising success, by a lot of authoritarians online when they were punching down.

Incidentally, this is why I do not want to seize the "memes" of production. So many products of internet culture (including the "it was a joke" after-the-fact defence) are authoritarian by design, and we only taint ourselves by trying to use them.