Not just MLs, anarchists are being hit with it, too

Is it evolving?

I don't think it's evolved much if at all. They started using it to refer to MLs to do anticommunism and then they muddied the water of its anticommunist intentions by using it on anyone that says anything left of liberal. It is still strictly an anticommunist tool deployed to harm MLs though.

Its deployment is solely focused on anything that transcends the nationalist barrier. You can be anticapitalist as long as you're a nationalist because your nationalism will result in your opposition to China and to all countries labelled as "authoritarian". In essence, the nationalism people hold results in these people conforming to the propaganda of western states. Anyone who is an internationalist though? They're a tankie. Because once they cross that line from nationalism to internationalism they become far harder for the western state propaganda to reach.

The goal is to make the new wave of anticapitalist baby-leftists into national chauvinists, maintaining the state's grip on them through media propaganda and thus the west's foreign policy remains protected. They don't give a fuck about their anticapitalist intentions if they're solely nationalist because they can control them due to the bourgeoise-state.

What they're afraid of is a mass awakening in terms of internationalism.

Tankie doesn't actually mean anything, the term has lost all meaning. Anyone who doesn't think that NATO is good, or should wage war on Russia or China is a tankie. Even non-socialist pro-peace people are accused of being tankies

The hammer and sickle already is