Revealed: rightwing firm posed as leftist group on Facebook to divide Democrats

[Nevilledog]

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Brahm Resnik
@brahmresnik
NEW How Facebook overlooked phony Green party ads in 2018 placed by Arizona State Rep. Jake Hoffman's marketing firm.

Revealed: rightwing firm posed as leftist group on Facebook to divide Democrats
FEC investigation failed to uncover link to Rally Forge, a firm with close ties to Turning Point USA
theguardian.com
10:04 AM · Jun 11, 2021

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jun/11/facebook-ads-turning-point-usa-rally-forge

A digital marketing firm closely linked to the pro-Trump youth group Turning Point USA was responsible for a series of deceptive Facebook ads promoting Green party candidates during the 2018 US midterm elections, the Guardian can reveal.

In an apparent attempt to split the Democratic vote in a number of close races, the ads purported to come from an organization called America Progress Now (APN) and used socialist memes and rhetoric to urge leftwing voters to support Green party candidates.

Facebook was aware of the true identity of the advertiser – the conservative marketing firm Rally Forge – and the deceptive nature of the ads, documents seen by the Guardian show, but the company determined that they did not violate its policies.

Rally Forge would go on to set up a pro-Trump domestic “troll farm” for Turning Point Action, a “sister” organization of Turning Point USA, in 2020, earning a permanent ban from Facebook.

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[Politicub]

1. The first half of the Mueller report detailed how right-wing groups do this. It was

eye-opening reading.

Its unfortunate that people didn't take the time to get through the first 20 pages, and latched onto collusion distraction.

[malaise]

2. Are they posting here as well?

Asking for a friend

[BComplex]

6. Oh, you can count on it! But the MIRT team usually zaps them before they

get a good hold.

[luv2fly]

3. Yet one more reason why FB sucks.

insert long sigh here

[lagomorph777]

4. One more reason to avoid Fascistbook.

They are happy to target you in efforts to destroy democracy, as long as there's a buck in it.

[DFW]

5. Facebook is far from the only place the radical right employs this tactic.

As if we didn't already know that............

[bearsfootball516]

7. Happened in 2016 too.

Right wing groups masqueraded as demoralized Bernie supporters that encouraged others that Hillary "didn't really care about you" and she didn't deserve your vote.

[StarfishSaver]

8. I have no doubt they haven't limited themselves to Facebook