A new report from Open Secrets exposes how a Robert Mercer funded dark money organization worked with Facebook and Google to target swing voters with anti-Muslim ads during the 2016 election.
Read: Kristi Noem Is Banned From 20% of South Dakota.
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Open Secrets reported:
Most Americans have never heard of the far-right neoconservative nonprofit that ran the ads. It has no employees and no volunteers, and it’s run out of the offices of a Washington, D.C. law firm. More importantly, most voters never saw the ads.
And that was by design.
The group, a social welfare organization called Secure America Now, worked hand in hand with Facebook and Google to target their message at voters in swing states who were most likely to be receptive to them.
And new tax documents obtained by OpenSecrets show that the money fueling the group came mostly from just three donors, including the secretive multimillionaire donor Robert Mercer.
The role of Citizens United in the manipulation of social media
The report is part of a common trend. Whether it is mysterious ads from unknown companies on Facebook, or Russians using social media platforms, the gutting of campaign finance laws along with rapid development of sophisticated voter targeting tools on social media has made it easy for voters dark money groups and hostile foreign governments to deceive voters with misleading advertising.
None of this would effective if social media companies weren’t so eager to mislead voters for money.
Social media companies are harming voters for money
Facebook can make superficial moves on data protection, but they aren’t addressing the real problem of their willingness to accept advertising money from anyone for any purpose. Facebook and Google ran deceptive anti-Muslim ads targeting swing voters for money. They helped Trump win the election because election year ad spending is a giant cash grab especially for companies like Twitter and Facebook who are under constant pressure from investors to increase revenues.
Donald Trump won a presidential election by less than 80,000 votes, and the role of social media companies allowing dark money groups to use their data to target voters with divisive and false ads shouldn’t be swept under the rug.
Russia is only part of the equation. Questions need to be asked about how social media companies created a platform that was so easy for dark money groups and the Russians to manipulate.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
