we-know
Explanation
The Joke
A person opens their computer to find a threatening message: "We placed a virus on your computer. We accessed your camera. We know what you have masturbated to." The person reacts with shock ("Oh my God!") and asks "What do you want?" -- expecting the typical blackmail or ransom demand. Instead, the hackers' demand reads: "An explanation for why you were masturbating to a 6-hour documentary about the levelized cost of energy inputs." The final panel shows the person sheepishly admitting "We're living through a green industrial revolution."
The comic subverts the well-known "sextortion" email scam, in which scammers claim to have recorded someone through their webcam while they were watching pornography and demand payment to keep the footage private. In this version, the hackers did catch the person in a compromising act -- but what shocked them was not that the person was masturbating, but what they were masturbating to. A six-hour documentary about levelized energy costs is about as unsexy as content gets, and the hackers are genuinely confused and disturbed.
The Humor
The joke works by inverting the power dynamic of the scam. Normally the victim is embarrassed and the hacker is in control. Here, the hacker is the one who is disturbed and needs answers. The person's defense -- that they are excited about the green energy revolution -- is both an absurd justification for the act and also a sly commentary on how genuinely thrilling some people find niche policy topics. SMBC frequently celebrates the kind of person who finds energy economics more exciting than conventional entertainment, and this comic takes that enthusiasm to its most absurd extreme.