No, running fake ads is not technically election interference, at least not with regard to any illegality. The tactic is actually as old as campaigns themselves, an almost inherent part of the democratic process. And yet no one would scream louder about “election interference” than the side that is littering Facebook with fake Kamala Harris ads. It is legal to use a fake end around as “free speech” and no one uses the “free speech” mantra to Trump’s benefit than Elon Musk. You know what that means.
Yes, PACs associated with the increasingly insufferable Musk have put out fake ads, per NPR reporting:
A series of ads that look like they are from the Harris campaign are spreading falsehoods about her current policy positions, including that she wants to institute a mandatory gun-buyback program and give Medicare benefits and drivers’ licenses to undocumented immigrants. One of the ads asserts Harris wants to ban fracking. None of this is true.
It is almost a dead giveaway when you see a “gun-buy back” program foisted up. The gun manufacturers will never let a perfectly good election go to waste without scaring those predisposed into buying a ninth assault rifle. Yes, it is fake. Notice, too – the shot across Pennsylvania’s bow – perhaps the state that takes the future of fracking most seriously. Fake. And so there it is. That’s why they work.
Except it is still very possible to get caught, as has happened here:
The Facebook ads have collectively been viewed millions of times in swing states, posted by an account dubbed “Progress 2028″… But there is no such Harris-aligned initiative as Progress 2028. And the ads are bankrolled by Building America’s Future, a dark money group funded by billionaire Elon Musk and others, according to campaign tracking site Open Secrets.
What good is $250 billion if you’re not going to spend it to get your way as the richest man in the richest nation to ever populate the planet? Musk probably makes more than one hundred million a day in interest but in this context it represents the most cynical type of election interference. Scaring voters into joining your cause by lying to them is not novel – just ironic. They would go nuts if Harris was caught… And no one should take it to the bank that progressives aren’t up to something similar.
Alas, Democrats don’t have a suddenly interested political animal like Musk. Probably don’t want one – not like him, anyway. Just the money. Speaking of the money and insufferable billionaires, we must remember who benefits from all of this legal but disreputable activity. Yes, Zuckerberg, perhaps the only billionaire liked less than Musk, that guy is laughing his guilty self to the bank. Zuck doesn’t have to do the bidding:
“Meta is disdaining responsibility for permitting this deception, but Meta is 100 percent responsible,” Weissman said. “Yes, there is a First Amendment right to lie, but that does not constrain Meta’s management of advertisements on its platform.”
If you are waiting around to see Meta become a responsible citizen and do the right thing you are going to spend your entire life hitting “refresh” and dealing with disappointment. Just because Zuckerberg has never meant that he would, nor is there any indication that he ever will – if that makes any sense.
But when your aunt sends you an email with a link, saying “See! I told you!” just link the above article, hit refresh, and expect nothing more than Musk and Zuck to explore new ways to throw money away as is specifically intended to infuriate you.
All things considered, these ads are not likely to sway much and there are billions of worse ways for Musk to spend his money. It’s not like he could get rid of it if he wanted to at this point. By my math (Always trouble), if Musk used his $250 billion to pay every American to vote for HIM as president – go for the gold, Elon – we would get $715 each. It is certainly money better spent. That is no lie.
But with so much money in politics now – unlimited in a post-Citizen’s United world, get used to more and more of the covert stuff. Election lies have been around since the beginning, but it’s harder and harder to pin down responsibility. Of course, keeping a close eye on Musk and Zuck will go a long way.
That is the truth.
God Bless: I can be reached at [email protected] and @JasonMiciak
Facebook is (mostly) tending older than other social media. In other words MAGA… but those that aren’t MAGA have probably already figured out that Zuckerberg pushes his algorithms towards faux news and friends. But it doesn’t help. If Harris wins and dems have congress and scotus is expanded, time to rein in social media. Time to add some accountability. Maybe make them utilities. Their influence has grown to the point that can be held liable. Misinformation, disinformation and mal-information have to be regulated. Social media doesn’t go over airwaves but does go up satellite feeds to the satellites and back & use fiber optic through public right of ways. Nothing is truly “private”. Some public $$$ went in to that bs. 🤨
Making them utilities would be the only real viable way of legally regulating them. Othewise, one makes special rules for them that then drip down to hurt others, always the little guy.
The problem with making them utilities is that the country literally cannot afford it. The big 4-5 companies, whether Google, Facebook, X, MSF – it would eat up 25% of an annual budget.
I wrote about these guys being small nations unto themselves and even a big nation cannot buy a bunch of them all at once.
The better way to go IMO is to unleash the anti-trust division on them, break both companies into 50 of them, with compatible software across all companies – let them regulate each other by pushing better rules/policies for users.
The funny thing is that they would all end up richer, just like Rockefeller, but power would be spread out, and right now, power is the real currency, not dollars.
jason
I don’t believe in reincarnation but if I’m wrong it’s time for whomever is host to the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt to rise up and lead the anti-trust charge.
They didn’t have Citizen’s United back then. Money wasn’t so tied to the politics of the day, at least not the way it’s used now. They could bust up the railroads, but not Google.
Ma Bell was the last, biggest and best. Once they failed with Microsoft, I think they just sort of gave up.
jason
Two spoiled trust fund babies. As the Boss sang about learning the lesson: all men want to be rich…rich man wants to be king, the king ain’t satisfied until he rules everything. Our democracy should have never been for sale. Now the responsibility is on US to not only stop these child killing nazis, but to fix the laws that sold us down the river.
“Anti-trust” them. I remember when AT&T was broken up—-the company was split into seven pieces.