Reddit Wrong! Harris Campaign's Manipulation Of Social Media To Spread Election Disinformation

Posted • October 30, 2024: Back in August, Fox News reported that talking points from the campaign were appearing on Google searches as if they were being reported by the Associated Press and other news organizations. BUSTED: The Kamala Harris campaign admits it conducted a massive online misinformation scheme with the help of Google. Google claims a glitch in its system allowed the Harris campaign to run counterfeit headlines that appeared to originate from the AP and Reuters. Google claimed that it was a glitch in its system that caused the 'fake news' headlines. Was Google complicit? -- The Federalist is now reporting on an investigation that claims that the Harris campaign staffers are using 'astroturfing' campaigns to manipulate information on Reddit. Absolutely crazy inside story about how the Kamala Harris campaign is manipulating social media sites to artificially boost their popularity, spread election disinformation, and skirt election laws.

Harris staffers and volunteers would coordinate posting in Reddit communities called subreddits. A pre-determined lead poster will post an article or pro-Harris message into a subreddit. Once posted other volunteers will 'upvote' (like) the post to create 'karma' which gives the post more reach. 'Astroturfing' is a political and marketing term that describes creating swarms of coordinated and/or paid messages and posts to deceptively create the illusion of support from ordinary people. Essentially, 'astroturfing' is the opposite of grassroots support. The process was highly coordinated. In this case, there is a team of volunteers who spam social media with posts that specifically promote Kamala. They then have other users pretend to be random individuals who just happened across the post and decided to comment. It’s no different than a shady company paying a team to write a bunch of fake Amazon reviews about their product to make it appear to be a better and more popular product than it is.

The Federalist: BUSTED: The Inside Story Of How The Kamala Harris Campaign Manipulates Reddit (And Breaks The Rules) To Control The Platform
https://thefederalist.com/2024/10/29/busted-the-inside-story-of-how-the-kamala-harris-campaign-manipulates-reddit-and-breaks-the-rules-to-control-the-platform/ (…)
• More at: Twitchy - Reddit Wrong! Harris Campaign's Manipulation of Social Media to Spread Election Disinformation
https://twitchy.com/eric-v/2024/10/30/reddit-wrong-harris-campaigns-manipulation-of-social-media-to-spread-election-disinformation-n2402996