Since MAKA went viral, I’ve started seeing many people ask a few of the same questions about it – so here they are, answered.

Wait, what, you’re back again?

We are because, alas, he is. In 2022 #MAKA was banned from the Chrome Web Store for “hate speech” (yes, really), and in the middle of a non-deranged Presidency I didn’t feel the need to fight too hard to get it back. Sadly, with Trump hanging around like a surprisingly resilient vomit stain on the carpet of US politics, and a new election looming, I found myself wanting to banish him again.

Where are the options gone?

When resubmitted with the option to block other idiots intact, Google once again rejected the extension. In an effort to see if I could get it back online in the most basic form, I’ve removed them all. For now. Sorry.

What’s with the weird disclaimer?

Google repeatedly rejected the extension based on this rule:

Hate speech:

We don’t allow content advocating against or inciting hatred towards groups of people based on their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, nationality, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or any other characteristic that is associated with systematic discrimination or marginalisation.

The rule is very sensible and I agree with it, but it appears to me entirely inapplicable to Make America Kittens Again, and I thought I’d make that point very clearly in the description.

Why doesn’t it work?

The extension can only replace images that it knows contain Trump. In order to do this without some kind of complicated image recognition software that I’m not smart enough to make, it looks for “Trump” in the image name or description text, and in properties of the parent element. If the image isn’t described or named that way, it won’t get replaced. Sorry!

No, really, why doesn’t it work on Facebook or Twitter or (some other site)?

*Gestures to answer above*. Update: since scanning parent elements, MAKA now has a reasonable success rate on Twitter.

Why is it replacing something that’s not Trump?

In order to achieve a good percentage success rate, the script replaces images where Trump (or whatever name) is found, not only if it is found as a discrete word. This means occasional false-positives for trumpets and Swedish socks. Sorry.  In the future, I hope to add an option to reduce false-positives (but with a reduced blocking level overall, too).

Why not puppies?

Meh, I’m a cat person.

Where do the cat pictures come from?

Most are Creative Commons licensed images from Flickr – mouse-over a replaced image to see the credit. Some were sent in by email to me via www.teaandkittens.co.uk

Can I see / use the code?

Sure you can.

Is this really a helpful or useful response to a hateful bigot becoming President of the United States?

Well, no. I made it back in February when Trump was merely an annoyance; a particularly vile and shouty cartoon clown making a nuisance of himself ahead of the Republican primaries when, I hoped, he’d get knocked back to his career of real estate fuckery and reality TV bellowing.

Obviously things didn’t turn out that way, and we’re looking down the barrel of four years of horror. No Chrome extension’s going to fix that, sadly.