Researcher Accuses Harris Campaign of Manipulating Social Media
Democrats have allegedly utilized a Discord server to "astroturf" Reddit posts and influence Community Notes on X. Read Full Article at RT.com.
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Democratic campaigns for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are allegedly engaging in coordinated efforts on Reddit and manipulating the Community Notes feature on X, as reported by an American researcher.
“Astroturfing” refers to the creation of artificial support that masquerades as genuine grassroots activity, derived from the synthetic turf commonly found in U.S. sports venues.
Sean Davis, founder of the outlet Federalist, stated, “The Harris-Walz campaign fraudulently games Community Notes with sock puppet accounts and astroturf tactics. And we have the screenshots and spreadsheets and campaign comms to prove it,” in a post on Wednesday.
Davis referenced a series of investigations by a researcher using the alias ‘Reddit Lies’. This researcher provided screenshots purportedly from the Harris-Walz Discord server, demonstrating how Democrats allegedly coordinated efforts to flood social media with their messaging while suppressing dissent.
One instance highlighted involved Democratic National Committee employee Timothy Durigan, who directed campaign volunteers to downvote a Community Note that labeled a post from the @KamalaHQ account as incorrect.
The Community Notes initiative was introduced by Elon Musk following his acquisition of Twitter, now rebranded as X, in 2022, aimed at flagging misleading or inaccurate posts without resorting to censorship. According to ‘Reddit Lies’, numerous official accounts associated with Harris and Walz have consistently presented misleading narratives about their opponents, Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance. This has attracted criticism even from CNN. The researcher noted that “virtually none” of these “false and misleading tweets” have received Community Notes, suggesting a coordinated effort to downvote them.
Screenshots shared by the Federalist reveal that the Harris-Walz Discord hosts a “Twitter Community Notes Training” module, instructing users on how to enhance their scores while encouraging them to downrank notes that identify inaccuracies in Democratic claims.
Despite their apparent success in evading Community Notes for misleading posts, the campaign hasn’t fully manipulated the system as intended, according to ‘Reddit Lies’. One post from an organizer expressed frustration with X's protective measures.
Additionally, the campaign seems to be utilizing a tool named Reach to disseminate its messaging across various platforms, potentially violating policies against “coordinated inauthentic behavior,” which are designed to prevent interference from entities like the ‘Russian bots’ the Democrats claim have influenced U.S. elections.
Ramin Sohrabi for TROIB News
“Astroturfing” refers to the creation of artificial support that masquerades as genuine grassroots activity, derived from the synthetic turf commonly found in U.S. sports venues.
Sean Davis, founder of the outlet Federalist, stated, “The Harris-Walz campaign fraudulently games Community Notes with sock puppet accounts and astroturf tactics. And we have the screenshots and spreadsheets and campaign comms to prove it,” in a post on Wednesday.
Davis referenced a series of investigations by a researcher using the alias ‘Reddit Lies’. This researcher provided screenshots purportedly from the Harris-Walz Discord server, demonstrating how Democrats allegedly coordinated efforts to flood social media with their messaging while suppressing dissent.
One instance highlighted involved Democratic National Committee employee Timothy Durigan, who directed campaign volunteers to downvote a Community Note that labeled a post from the @KamalaHQ account as incorrect.
The Community Notes initiative was introduced by Elon Musk following his acquisition of Twitter, now rebranded as X, in 2022, aimed at flagging misleading or inaccurate posts without resorting to censorship. According to ‘Reddit Lies’, numerous official accounts associated with Harris and Walz have consistently presented misleading narratives about their opponents, Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance. This has attracted criticism even from CNN. The researcher noted that “virtually none” of these “false and misleading tweets” have received Community Notes, suggesting a coordinated effort to downvote them.
Screenshots shared by the Federalist reveal that the Harris-Walz Discord hosts a “Twitter Community Notes Training” module, instructing users on how to enhance their scores while encouraging them to downrank notes that identify inaccuracies in Democratic claims.
Despite their apparent success in evading Community Notes for misleading posts, the campaign hasn’t fully manipulated the system as intended, according to ‘Reddit Lies’. One post from an organizer expressed frustration with X's protective measures.
Additionally, the campaign seems to be utilizing a tool named Reach to disseminate its messaging across various platforms, potentially violating policies against “coordinated inauthentic behavior,” which are designed to prevent interference from entities like the ‘Russian bots’ the Democrats claim have influenced U.S. elections.
Ramin Sohrabi for TROIB News
