Tag: Conservative

Facebook removes fake accounts linked to conservative group

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By David Klepper | Associated Press

Facebook has removed 276 accounts that used fake profiles to pose as right-leaning Americans and comment on news articles, often in favor of President Donald Trump, the company announced Thursday.

The platform also permanently banned an Arizona-based digital communications firm that it said was behind the fake accounts.

The move was prompted by reporting last month in The Washington Post that a pro-Trump group known as Turning Point Action was paying teenagers to post coordinated, supportive messages, a violation of Facebook’s rules.

Facebook and Twitter have been regularly removing fake accounts — both domestic and foreign — that try to insert themselves in the U.S. political discourse and influence the election. But social media companies face broader threats around misinformation and voter suppression that at times come from President Donald Trump himself.

The latest network Facebook removed became active before the 2018 midterm elections

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Russia IRA trolls tied to the conservative sites Parler and Gab

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What makes Leo’s assertions noteworthy, however, is that last week his account was identified as a key asset in an alleged Russian disinformation campaign that has been purged from three mainstream social media platforms. But two others, Parler and the far-right Gab, continue to host accounts that reportedly are part of the operation, which the independent research group Graphika said “resembled” a previous campaign linked to Russia’s notorious Internet Research Agency, whose social media campaign marred the 2016 presidential election.

Parler and Gab offered different reasons for their inaction: Parler said it had not heard directly from U.S. law enforcement on the issue and, hence, did not need to act. Gab founder Andrew Torba said of the alleged Russian accounts, “They can speak freely on Gab just like anyone else.”

The impact of their decisions is that an alleged Russian disinformation campaign — whose discovery was triggered by an FBI

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Conservative group won’t sell state ID ‘voter’ domain names

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Idahovotes.gov is a state-maintained website by the Idaho Technology Services Office, providing online voter information and registration options.

Idahovotes.com and Idahovotes.org bring users to the Idaho Freedom Foundation’s 2020 Freedom Index.

A state elections official worries that the difference between idahovotes.com and idahovotes.gov could confuse citizens, so the state is creating a new set of websites.

The Idaho Secretary of State’s Office, which includes the state elections division, became aware of the domains in May, said Chad Houck, chief deputy secretary of state. After learning of the Idaho Freedom Foundation’s use of the two websites, Houck and the Secretary of State, Lawerence Denney, reached out to the organization to obtain the handles.

“We tried to acquire the domains by purchasing and trading, but both of those offers were not met with receptivity,” Houck said. “We were informed the domains were owned by a donor of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, and

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An anonymous Facebook exec says ‘right-wing populism is always more engaging’ and that’s why conservative posts thrive on the platform

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a close up of a sign: FILE PHOTO: Facebook logos Reuters

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FILE PHOTO: Facebook logos Reuters
  • An anonymous Facebook executive said conservatives’ success on the platform is due to having content that is “always more engaging,” according to a Politico report.
  • Politico reported that the executive, who identifies as a “center-left progressive” said the right’s focus on “nation, protection, the other, anger, fear” has always been an effective tactic, pointing to the 1930s.
  • The comments come as Facebook has been criticized by the right and left for having a political bias, with social media platforms drawing attention from both President Trump and Joe Biden.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

An anonymous Facebook executive told Politico that right-wing pages see more engagement because of their emotional pull, instead of the platform’s algorithm, according to a report published Friday.

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The publication reported that the executive said that “right-wing populism is always more engaging,” because

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Conservative group launches website to battle big tech companies over online censorship

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The Media Research Center has launched CensorTrack, a website dedicated to #FreeSpeechAmerica, a campaign designed to fight online censorship of conservatives.

“Our position is that if they can do it to the president of the United States, they can do it to anyone, and in fact that is exactly what is happening… every platform in Silicon Valley today is censoring conservatives,” MRC founder and president Brent Bozell told attendees of a virtual launch event on Sept. 17.

WHAT IS SECTION 230 OF THE COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT, AND WHY IS IT UNDER FIRE?

The Media Research Center has launched CensorTrack, a website dedicated to #FreeSpeechAmerica, a campaign designed to fight online censorship of conservatives.

The Media Research Center has launched CensorTrack, a website dedicated to #FreeSpeechAmerica, a campaign designed to fight online censorship of conservatives.

“We’re going to be coordinating our effort with those on Capitol Hill, trying to work in a bipartisan manner to take our concerns,” Bozell added.

MRC vice president Dan Gainor said CensorTrack.org is the “first initiative of

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Facebook, Twitter Suspend Accounts Of Youth Involved In Conservative Group’s Domestic ‘Troll Farm’

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Pro-Trump group Turning Point Action, an affiliate of Turning Point USA, paid Arizona teenagers to spread right-wing messages for the group on their personal Facebook and Twitter accounts, The Washington Post reported.

The Post reported Tuesday some accounts belonging to minors had been suspended for posting talking points, characterized as “platform manipulation and spam.” 

 

 

An examination indicated the social media campaign spanned across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and included nearly 4,500 tweets with the same content, the report said. 

Although teens used their personal accounts to carry out the social media campaign, the phrasing of the messages drew comparisons to trolls and bots.

“In 2016, there were Macedonian teenagers

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