It is literally a 4chan hoax, much like the recent seperate but equal rainbow flags. It's clever, even of grossly misanthropic. Never underestimate the effert bored teens will spend 'for the lulz'.
"Bored teens" spreading white nationalist memes is still elevating white nationalism, no matter whether it is for "the lulz". "It is just a joke" is in no way an excuse for this behavior.
The meme, in this case, is that the OK sign is support for fascism/nazis/etc. That's the meme that the "bored teens" are spreading, and the meme that the NYT bought.