As if there weren’t enough Twitter trolls and other internet bullies to contend with, now if you are critical of Hillary Clinton on social media be prepared to be confronted by Hillary’s asroturfed internet police. The Los Angeles Times reports that the Hillary-supporting super PAC, Correct the Record – run by Clinton ally David Brock, – is spending a million dollars to challenge social media users who tweet and post negative things about Hillary:
Hillary Clinton’s well-heeled backers have opened a new frontier in digital campaigning, one that seems to have been inspired by some of the Internet’s worst instincts. Correct the Record, a super PAC coordinating with Clinton’s campaign, is spending some $1 million to find and confront social media users who post unflattering messages about the Democratic front-runner.
This despicable plan is how Hillary operatives think they can deal with “engagement” gap between Hillary supporters and her detractors, not to mention Donald Trump and his Twitter takeover:
The plan comes as Clinton operatives grapple with the reality that her supporters just aren’t as engaged and aggressive online as are her detractors inside and outside the Democratic Party.
The lack of engagement is one of Clinton’s bigger tactical vulnerabilities, particularly when compared with rivals like Donald Trump, whose viral social media attacks are legion, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is backed by a passionate army of media-savvy millennials.
According to Correct The Record’s website, the “Barrier Breakers 2016” program will “push back against attackers” on social media platforms using a task force that includes former reporters, bloggers and PR specialists. The astroturfed Hillary enforcer squad has already gone after 5,000 individuals who were critical of Hillary on Twitter:
The task force currently combats online political harassment, having already addressed more than 5,000 individuals who have personally attacked Secretary Clinton on Twitter.
Team Hillary has that backwards. It’s her social media goons that are doing the “online political harassment.” According to the Los Angeles Times article, Brian Donahue, chief executive of the consulting firm Craft Media/Digital, said this runs the risk of being exactly what Hillary opponents accuse her campaign of being: “a campaign that appears to be populist but is a smokescreen that is paid and brought to you by lifetime political operatives and high-level consultants.” That’s the very definition of astroturfing.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member