Sanders supporters have weaponized Facebook to spread angry memes about his Democratic rivals

[applegrove]

Sanders supporters have weaponized Facebook to spread angry memes about his Democratic rivals

Users are using mass-posting technologies to flood Facebook with attacks on Elizabeth Warren and others

By Craig Timberg and Isaac Stanley-Becker at the Washington Post

Jan. 24, 2020 at 1:57 p.m. EST

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/01/24/facebook-is-inflaming-divides-tearing-democratic-party/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

"SNIP.....

A Democrat in Michigan scrolled through a surge of nasty Facebook memes about Sen. Elizabeth Warren last week before fixing on one that captured his growing dislike of the candidate. It depicted her smiling face as a mask. Behind it was Hillary Clinton.

Matt Walters, 64, a retired factory worker and supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), shared the image onward to eight Facebook groups and tens of thousands of potential eyeballs with a few taps on his smartphone — using a popular new mass-posting technique that allows ordinary Americans to operate with rapid-fire speed reminiscent of Russian bots and trolls in 2016.

In that small way, Walters contributed to a massive wave of hostile memes about Sanders’s Democratic rivals that both reflects the rising divisiveness in the party’s nominating contest and, in the view of social media experts, exacerbates it.

“I’d call it a force multiplier,” Walters, a onetime union activist, said of Facebook.

......SNIP"

[Cheap_Trick]

1. Gosh, NO ONE ELSE does the same.

That was SARCASM, BTW. What a fucking non-story. I've seen shitloads of anti-Bernie memes. Move along and get a new schtick.

[Eliot Rosewater]

6. Do you have credible links to show the other D candidates doing this?

[Autumn]

12. Look on FB. And twitter is worse.

[Steven Maurer]

17. I do. I don't see a single thing.

Maybe you can provide some upvoted links akin to the stuff that is constantly being posted by Barnie-bros?

Here's an example: right now thousands of bros are posting "snake" emoji about Warren for some stupid reason. Show an example of Biden supporters harassing Sanders in the same way and I'll believe you.

Otherwise I'll count this up to you seeing what you want to see.

[Autumn]

18. This antisemitic troll was banned before your time. You can read through the feed, plenty of hatred

here. That's all you will get from me.

https://twitter.com/KHiveQueenB

[Steven Maurer]

21. Saying "candidate will never be President" is not the same thing as attacking their morality

I'm putting this down to primary motivated histrionics.

[Autumn]

38. I'm putting it down to a banned antisemitic troll hating Sanders Twitter begging for weed

and offering to pretend to support another. Sounds very familiar Your mileage may vary.

[Steven Maurer]

40. I don't see what you do

Maybe it's some history of this person I'm not aware of, but it certainly isn't in what you linked to.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

30. Indeed, WAY WORSE!! Yet, some act like they don't know what's going on!!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join The Revolution!!

[LanternWaste]

43. Are you sure it's not "waY woRSe!!!!"?

We gotta be certain about these things.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

28. Thank you for saying this!! Everyone knows what's going on...this just has to stop!! But it won't...

but that's okay too. The Baseless Bernie Bashing Backlash will just grow stronger, Bernie will continue surging, and President Sanders will have the last laugh!!


Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join The Revolution!!

[LanternWaste]

42. Weak sauce, as the story did not argue no one else does it.

That seems a premise entirely made up by you.

I get it.

Bernie's gotta maintain that pretense of suppression... it's a shtick that works well for him.

[Buzz cook]

2. Facebook is in the bag for Trump.

Zuckerberg loves Donny.

[applegrove]

5. I hope Zuckerberg read the article on Peter Thiel from this week. He is

getting wrong advice. He is debasing his brand by being the source of spreading lies.

[Hortensis]

19. Which article?

Democrats are declaring war on Facebook's enormous power. How amazing that it's very dangerous for the Democratic Party to take on just one business and its billionaires, but their renegade power has become an existential threat to democracies around the planet. Regulation and taxation are coming for you, schmucks.

We live in too-interesting times. A little boredom instead of giant threats on even one front would be nice.

[MerryBlooms]

25. This. FB is being used to attack every Dem.

I left FB Last June, don't miss it. People who say they use it to keep in contact with relatives, guess what, you can text and call, what a concept. Groups, meh. All those interests are also available outside of FB. Besides, who has enough time in the day to fuck around on FB, DU, political action sites, work, household care, car care, gardening, family, friends, leisure, shopping, etc... I don't, so FB was the one that was easy to toss.

[samnsara]

3. makes me dislike BS even more

[AverageJoe]

4. FB is filled with anti-Sanders memes as well

This is ridiculous. The Sanders hatred and fear mongering among conservative Democrats is truly stunning.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

32. Not to me... we've seen this show before, only this time, it'll have a different ending!!

We The People have Bernie's back... the way Bernie's has had OURS for DECADES!! NOTHING will stop the mission Bernie is on... you see it in the Baseless Bernie Bashing Backlash that is being reflected in the polls, as the Bernie surge increases by the day!!


Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join The Revolution!!

[Autumn]

7. Biden supporters do the same thing on FB. nt

[applegrove]

8. Call them out if they are posting lying memes.

[AverageJoe]

9. This very thread qualifies

The story cited in the original post unfairly vilifies Sanders’s supporters and, by extension, Sanders himself.

[Autumn]

11. Twitter is even worse. The hatred towards Bernie on some of those accounts is vile.

[Autumn]

20. The media is shocked that a candidates and his supporters are using social media as a platform.

Imagine if the media like the WP actually used it's platform. We wouldn't be in the mess we are in.

[Autumn]

10. They are called out and removed in the groups I know of. Twitter is even worse.

[Autumn]

39. I do alert the posts to FB. But that really doesn't work all that well.

[CentralMass]

26. They do it here.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

33. Absolutely!! Indeed, it's WAY worse than anything Bernie's supporters put out...

I'm actually amazed by their restraint!!


Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join The Revolution!!

[jcmaine72]

35. Apparently it's only considered a "weapon" when Bernie's supporters do it.

For everyone else, it's an unequivocal act of love or unconditionally justifiable under any and all circumstances because of, you know, reasons.

[R B Garr]

13. The Mueller report exposed this. nt

[rockfordfile]

14. Sounds like Russia again. I'm sure there are others

[UniteFightBack]

24. +1000 nt

[Cha]

15. KICK!

[NCProgressive]

16. "Bernie plays dirty" - Former Governor Shumlin, D-Vermont

[oasis]

22. K and R

[Tiggeroshii]

27. More reason why facebook should die.

A brutal, horrible, painful death.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

34. You got that right... as usual!!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together & can't be bought!!
Jump on the Bernie Bandwagon & join The Revolution!!

[Tiggeroshii]

37. Thanks blue state!!

[Kablooie]

29. I'll bet 98% of it comes from Russian, not Bernie supporters.

Fool me once, ...

[applegrove]

31. You may be right.

[Gothmog]

46. I saw the same conduct from sanders vetted delegates at the natioal convention

The conduct of a great many sanders delegates at the National Convention was horrible

[marlakay]

36. I have one FB friend Bernie supporter

That was doing that, talking smack about other candidates. I use to work with her years ago and until the election we agreed on most things.

I just nicely reminded her we needed to go out against Trump not each other and she stopped. I told her I liked both Bernie and Elizabeth. You really can kill more flies with honey. I don’t want to start wars with any of my friends and most of them even the ones I haven’t met in person are nice because I don’t friend people who are not.

A girl I met in 2016 working for Bernie got nutsy when Hillary won and I blocked her.

I only want people in my life willing to work for the good of the country.

[Gothmog]

41. The attacks by sanders supporters on this man disgust me

Link to tweet

?s=20

[redqueen]

44. Just gonna leave this here

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

45. The quote is from Fred Guttenberg

This man lost a child. Are you serious?

[Gothmog]

47. Fred Guttenberg-sanders is again showing that dealing with gun violence is not a priority.

Link to tweet