As an #American #MilitaryAgeMale who has been #ExtremelyOnline since #Usenet, I have some experience with people using shibboleths to say one thing as cover for something else, either towards me, but mainly the entire category of The Others™.
I’m familiar with how quickly “otherization” occurs, how shibboleths concretize, and how the worst people weaponize them effectively.
Ask me how I know.