It’s a tale as old as time: A random citizen of the internet creates an original piece of viral content—perhaps a pithy observation or a miniature absurdist drama—only to find that their hard-earned meme has been stolen and reposted by a larger account that capitalizes on their efforts for those precious likes and retweets. When content creators protest against known thieves like The Fat Jew and Fuck Jerry, they’re often met with indifference or the classic “calm down, it’s just the internet” response. Thankfully, there’s a vigilante out there lurking in the dark alleys of Twitter, seeking street justice on behalf of the poor, innocent meme-makers. And his name is Kale Salad.
Since November of last year, @kalesalad, real name Samir Mezrahi, has been tracking down and reposting the original tweets that popular meme accounts steal without attribution. Recently, Paper sat down with Mezrahi, whose day job is running social media for The Dodo, and asked him where he got the idea to be the Dark Knight of meme city.
“I’ve been a fan of great tweets for a long time and always wanted to find a way to reward and amplify them,” Mezrahi told Paper, adding that the quick and positive response to the account has been surprising. “The initial and subsequent reaction this past month alone has been amazing. It’s also been interesting to see people… looking for some sort of ’vindication.’”
Not only has Kale Salad been getting praise from creators and fans of meme humor, but he’s also officially pissing off the thieves who make a living stealing other’s ideas, which is a surefire sign that he’s doing the right thing.