Matt Novak’s March 25, 2025, Gizmodo roundup collects social-media jokes about Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic, being included in a Signal group chat where senior U.S. officials discussed strike plans in Yemen. The jokes turn an alarming security controversy into familiar group-chat comedy: accidental invitations, routine chat etiquette, and the fantasy of texting “STOP” to end war-plan updates.
Why the incident became group-chat comedy
The memes drew their contrast from the gap between ordinary messaging habits and the gravity of the conversation. People know the awkwardness of landing in a chat they were not meant to join; in this case, the reported chat concerned Yemen strike plans and included senior government figures, among them Pete Hegseth and JD Vance. Novak’s roundup presents that mismatch as the setup for jokes, not as a full investigation of the military, legal, or national-security questions.
The collection includes jokes about accidentally receiving secrets, trying to opt out of war-plan alerts, and treating a national-security chat as if it had the usual assortment of group-message participants. It also points to a Drake meme, a King of the Hill reference, a Trumpet image, and posts about the moment Goldberg joined the chat.
Examples from Gizmodo’s roundup
These are selected examples reproduced or described by the article, not a complete archive of posts or a ranked list:
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- Derek Guy: “me reading national security secrets bc i’ve been accidentally added to a group chat”
- Leta McCollough Seletzky: “Txt STOP to opt out of updates on war plans”
- FOHF: “When you’re accidentally added to the NatSec group chat.”
- Janus Rose: “every group chat has: – the secretary of defense – the high ranking military official carrying out kinetic operations in a country we’re not officially at war with – the editor in chief of the Atlantic”
Some social-media embeds may no longer load, so the roundup is best read as a snapshot of jokes its author selected at publication time rather than a durable, exhaustive meme archive.
What the memes do—and do not—show
Novak’s piece documents examples of online humor after the reported inclusion of a journalist in a Signal chat about Yemen strike plans. It does not provide a ranking method, engagement figures, or evidence that these were the internet’s most popular memes. The examples show one publication’s selection, not a measurement of public opinion.
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What the Signal episode says about security
In a March 27, 2025, Tech Policy Press discussion, EFF senior staff technologist Cooper Quintin distinguished encryption from participant vetting and classified-system requirements. He said, “Signal can’t save you from your own screw-ups, right? There’s nothing that any secure messenger can do to save you from adding a reporter to your group chat and not vetting the members of your group chat, right? That’s just not a problem that technology can solve.” Quintin also said Signal is secure for encryption but is not an appropriate place to share classified information. His point is that an unintended invitation is a user and process failure; it does not mean encryption failed to protect messages in transit.
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