NEW YORK (AP) — Reposts and expressions of surprise from public figures emerged shortly after a user used a pseudonym on the social platform. Two of these are important to the presidential race.
Ex-boss Elon Musk responded to the posts twice last week, saying, "Extremely worrying."
"Are immigrants registering to vote using SSNs?". Georgia Representative Marjorie Tayloe Green, an ally of former President Donald Trump, asked on Instagram, using th abbreviation for Social Security number. Within hours, Trump himself posted on his social platforms asking, "Who are all those voters in Texas, Pennsylvania and Arizona who registered without photo ID???" What's going on???" State election officials soon found themselves forced to respond. They said the user, who vowed to fight, expose and mock "wokeness", was wrong and had The security administration data had been distorted.Actual voter registration during that period cited was significantly lower than the figures being shared online. Recorder Stephen Richer in Maricopa County, Arizona, which includes Phoenix, refuted the claim in a multipage post, while Secretary of State Janet Nelson in Texas issued a statement calling it "completely false". Attempts were made to set the record straight, the false claim was widely spread. In three days, the pseudonymous user's claim was viewed more than 6 million times on X, according to the platform's metrics. Richer's detailed explanation attracted a small portion of this and reached 2.4 million users.
The incident highlights how social media accounts that hide the identities of the people or groups behind them through clever slogans and cartoon avatars have come to dominate online right-wing political discussion, even when they are inaccurate. Also spread information.Accounts have wide reach enhanced by engagement algorithms, b. Social media companies are greatly reducing or eliminating efforts to remove harmful content, and with the support of high-profile figures like Musk they can also generate substantial financial rewards. Other platforms fanned outrage against Democrats. Many such Internet celebrities identify as patriotic citizen journalists who expose real corruption. Yet, in a presidential election year in the United States, experts are concerned about their demonstrated ability to spread misinformation unchecked while hiding their true motives.
According to an anonymous source, Samuel Woolley, director of Propaganda Research LA at the University of Texas at Austin, said they are taking advantage of the long history of trust in American whistleblowers. "With these types of accounts, there is an attraction to secrecy, the idea that That they might somehow know something that other people don't know," he said. "They use the language of actual whistleblowing or democratically inclined leaks."What they're really doing is the opposite of democracy." Register to vote using the last four digits of your Social Security number. These requests are often made multiple times from the same person, meaning they are not necessarily from people who registered to vote. Match one to one. The larger implication is that the cited data represents people who entered the US illegally and are registering to vote with Social Security numbers allegedly obtained for work authorization documents.
But only US citizens are allowed to vote in federal elections, and illegal voting by those who are not is extremely rare because states have procedures in place to prevent it.Accounts that do not disclose the identities of the people behind them have been thriving online for years, gaining followers for their content on politics, humor, human rights and other topics. People have used anonymity on social media to avoid harassment by repressive authorities or to talk openly about sensitive experiences. Left-wing protesters adopted anonymous online identities during the Occupy Wall Street movement in the early 2010s.
Recently there has been a rapid rise of a group of right-wing pseudonymous influencers working on alternative information sources. This coincides with a decline in public trust in government and the media through the 2020 presidential election and the COVID-19 pandemic. These influencers often spread misinformation and otherwise misleading content, often in service of similar recurring narratives such as alleged vote fraud, a "woke agenda" or Democrats allegedly stealing the election or replacing whites through illegal immigration. Are.Encourage people's development. They often give us similar content and reshare each other's posts. Accounts that post misinformation have also recently spread fake information about the Israel-Hamas war, last time sharing a post that claimed to show a Palestinian "crisis actor" pretending to be a Palestinian. Get seriously injured. Since taking over Twitter in 2022, Musk has promoted his accounts, frequently commenting on their posts and sharing their content. H has also protected his anonymity. In March, X updated its privacy policy and stopped people from revealing the identity of an anonymous user.
Musk also rewards high engagement with financial payouts.The X user, who spread misinformation about new voter registrants, has gained more than 2 million followers since joining the platform in 2022. The user reported earning over US$10,000 from X's new creator ad revenue program in a post last July. ,X did not respond to a request for comment, which received an automated reply. Tech watchdogs said it is important to maintain space for anonymous voices online, but they should not be allowed to spread lies without accountability. “Companies should generally strictly enforce terms of service and content policies to promote election integrity and information integrity,” CAT said. Ruan, director of the Free Expression Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology.The success of these accounts shows how financially savvy users have adapted the online trolling playbook, said Donald Trump, a lecturer at Morgan State University and author of "It Came from Something Awful: How a Toxic Troll Army Accidentally Created a Troll Army." Have deployed it to your advantage. " said Dale Beran, author of "Trump Remembered." Office." "The art of trolling is to make the other person angry," he said. “So now it’s kind of a business."Some pseudonymous accounts on Its founders promote their pride in the documents. Kara Alamo, a communications professor at Farley Dickinson University who writes about toxicity on social media, said it's worrisome that so many Americans are turning to these obscure things without realizing it. Think about who is behind them or how they want to harm the country, online sources, trust. He said, “We know that foreign governments, including China and Russia, are actively using social media accounts to promote domestic discord. Because the ideology that weakens our social fabric gives their countries a competitive advantage.” " "And they are right."
Rup
Ex-boss Elon Musk responded to the posts twice last week, saying, "Extremely worrying."
"Are immigrants registering to vote using SSNs?". Georgia Representative Marjorie Tayloe Green, an ally of former President Donald Trump, asked on Instagram, using th abbreviation for Social Security number. Within hours, Trump himself posted on his social platforms asking, "Who are all those voters in Texas, Pennsylvania and Arizona who registered without photo ID???" What's going on???" State election officials soon found themselves forced to respond. They said the user, who vowed to fight, expose and mock "wokeness", was wrong and had The security administration data had been distorted.Actual voter registration during that period cited was significantly lower than the figures being shared online. Recorder Stephen Richer in Maricopa County, Arizona, which includes Phoenix, refuted the claim in a multipage post, while Secretary of State Janet Nelson in Texas issued a statement calling it "completely false". Attempts were made to set the record straight, the false claim was widely spread. In three days, the pseudonymous user's claim was viewed more than 6 million times on X, according to the platform's metrics. Richer's detailed explanation attracted a small portion of this and reached 2.4 million users.
The incident highlights how social media accounts that hide the identities of the people or groups behind them through clever slogans and cartoon avatars have come to dominate online right-wing political discussion, even when they are inaccurate. Also spread information.Accounts have wide reach enhanced by engagement algorithms, b. Social media companies are greatly reducing or eliminating efforts to remove harmful content, and with the support of high-profile figures like Musk they can also generate substantial financial rewards. Other platforms fanned outrage against Democrats. Many such Internet celebrities identify as patriotic citizen journalists who expose real corruption. Yet, in a presidential election year in the United States, experts are concerned about their demonstrated ability to spread misinformation unchecked while hiding their true motives.
According to an anonymous source, Samuel Woolley, director of Propaganda Research LA at the University of Texas at Austin, said they are taking advantage of the long history of trust in American whistleblowers. "With these types of accounts, there is an attraction to secrecy, the idea that That they might somehow know something that other people don't know," he said. "They use the language of actual whistleblowing or democratically inclined leaks."What they're really doing is the opposite of democracy." Register to vote using the last four digits of your Social Security number. These requests are often made multiple times from the same person, meaning they are not necessarily from people who registered to vote. Match one to one. The larger implication is that the cited data represents people who entered the US illegally and are registering to vote with Social Security numbers allegedly obtained for work authorization documents.
But only US citizens are allowed to vote in federal elections, and illegal voting by those who are not is extremely rare because states have procedures in place to prevent it.Accounts that do not disclose the identities of the people behind them have been thriving online for years, gaining followers for their content on politics, humor, human rights and other topics. People have used anonymity on social media to avoid harassment by repressive authorities or to talk openly about sensitive experiences. Left-wing protesters adopted anonymous online identities during the Occupy Wall Street movement in the early 2010s.
Recently there has been a rapid rise of a group of right-wing pseudonymous influencers working on alternative information sources. This coincides with a decline in public trust in government and the media through the 2020 presidential election and the COVID-19 pandemic. These influencers often spread misinformation and otherwise misleading content, often in service of similar recurring narratives such as alleged vote fraud, a "woke agenda" or Democrats allegedly stealing the election or replacing whites through illegal immigration. Are.Encourage people's development. They often give us similar content and reshare each other's posts. Accounts that post misinformation have also recently spread fake information about the Israel-Hamas war, last time sharing a post that claimed to show a Palestinian "crisis actor" pretending to be a Palestinian. Get seriously injured. Since taking over Twitter in 2022, Musk has promoted his accounts, frequently commenting on their posts and sharing their content. H has also protected his anonymity. In March, X updated its privacy policy and stopped people from revealing the identity of an anonymous user.
Musk also rewards high engagement with financial payouts.The X user, who spread misinformation about new voter registrants, has gained more than 2 million followers since joining the platform in 2022. The user reported earning over US$10,000 from X's new creator ad revenue program in a post last July. ,X did not respond to a request for comment, which received an automated reply. Tech watchdogs said it is important to maintain space for anonymous voices online, but they should not be allowed to spread lies without accountability. “Companies should generally strictly enforce terms of service and content policies to promote election integrity and information integrity,” CAT said. Ruan, director of the Free Expression Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology.The success of these accounts shows how financially savvy users have adapted the online trolling playbook, said Donald Trump, a lecturer at Morgan State University and author of "It Came from Something Awful: How a Toxic Troll Army Accidentally Created a Troll Army." Have deployed it to your advantage. " said Dale Beran, author of "Trump Remembered." Office." "The art of trolling is to make the other person angry," he said. “So now it’s kind of a business."Some pseudonymous accounts on Its founders promote their pride in the documents. Kara Alamo, a communications professor at Farley Dickinson University who writes about toxicity on social media, said it's worrisome that so many Americans are turning to these obscure things without realizing it. Think about who is behind them or how they want to harm the country, online sources, trust. He said, “We know that foreign governments, including China and Russia, are actively using social media accounts to promote domestic discord. Because the ideology that weakens our social fabric gives their countries a competitive advantage.” " "And they are right."
Rup
