On the eve of crucial presidential primaries littered across the north-east, Clinton super-PAC Correct the Record engaged in a coordinated attack on several popular Bernie support groups. Pro-Bernie Facebook groups began disappearing en masse; leaving hundreds of thousands of people wondering what on earth was happening. It’s possible that this attack was not funded by CTR, but considering the coordination required to take down so many pages so quickly(during a Democratic town hall and the day before key primaries) it’s highly likely the attack was at least instigated by CTR. Seemingly not satisfied with voter purging, Clinton and her allies are setting a dangerous new precedent of silencing people’s voices on social media.
According to CTR’s website, they aim to combat online harassment of Hillary and her supporters by spending $1 million on a diverse team of “former reporters, bloggers, public affairs specialists, designers, Ready for Hillary alumni, and Hillary super fans who have led groups similar to those with which the task force will organize.” The stated intentions are admirable enough; we are all aware of people’s incredible capacity for hatred and abuse on the internet. However, the actions this movement is taking are silencing the voices of Bernie Sanders’ supporters. These attacks are baseless as thousands of reports of ‘threats of violence’ are taking down Bernie support groups on social media. The baselessness of these attacks is clear when one considers that the groups were reactivated by Facebook a few hours later.
The super-PAC’s coordinated strike at support groups should be considered a dangerous new precedent on campaign finance and strategy. The ability to take down groups in support of political rivals on social media is a direct threat to our First Amendment rights. Facebook is privately owned, and therefore private space; but so long as these groups adhere to the company’s terms of use, their right to peaceably assemble should be protected by the Constitution. In 1920s Germany, the Sturmabteilung(more commonly referred to as ‘Brownshirts’) was formed. Among this group’s primary responsibilities were the protection of Nazi rallies and assemblies while also disrupting the meetings of other parties. The parallels between the actions by Brownshirts and the actions taken by the CTR to shut down Bernie support groups is terrifying. We are seeing an online 21st-century manifestation of an organized force of bullies(or hackers) designed to shut down the voice of opposing views. I do not believe Clinton is a modern manifestation of Hitler, but the actions of this super-PAC and ‘Hillary super fans’ is still worrying and should be addressed immediately.
Sunlight Foundation’s Libby Watson pointed out to the Daily Beast:
“SuperPACs aren’t supposed to coordinate with candidates. The whole reasoning behind (Supreme Court decision) Citizens United rests on (PACs) being independent, but Correct the Record claims it can coordinate. It’s not totally clear what their reasoning is, but it seems to be that material posted on the Internet for free—like, blogs—doesn’t count as an ‘independent expenditure.”
Not only is this bizarre, unprecedented movement against online voices a violation of people’s First Amendment rights, it’s also another worrying development in campaign finance. In the past, there has been clear pressure from establishment Democrats that Bernie supporters should vote for Hillary in the general election if she wins the primary. However, if Hillary’s campaign works so hard to silence our voices, why on earth should she expect our vote?
Cleisthenes 