3 ms·

The FBI accepts reports from the public about people interfering with elections, and they forward on those reports to the relevant platforms. I would like to se

by djur 4y ago

The FBI accepts reports from the public about people interfering with elections, and they forward on those reports to the relevant platforms. I would like to see the FBI and other law enforcement agencies considerably reduced in scale and power, but as long as they exist I think monitoring threats to free and fair elections is one of the better things they can do with said taxpayer dollars.

colordrops 4y ago
No government entity should be involved in the slightest in policing media in order to "protect" elections. It's very subjective and extremely ripe for abuse. The only reason election outcomes are so vulnerable to media manipulation is because the US political system is captured by cynical corporate interests that draw an arbitrary line unrelated to idealism across a set of issues to split voters almost perfectly at 50/50, then do everything in their power through corporate media to minimize third parties and use legal challenges to remove them from the ballot. If viable candidates that actually served the interest of the public rather than the ruling class were given fair access to the process, then we wouldn't be so vulnerable to manipulation. The FBI's role is to protect interests of the corporate elite in their backdoor dealings with various media outlets.
- Apocryphon 4y ago
  > No government entity should be involved in the slightest in policing media in order to "protect" elections. It's very subjective and extremely ripe for abuse. The FEC can impose all sorts of fines, they arguably have more teeth than this.
  - colordrops 4y ago
    Let me clarify: they should not be involved in "policing the particulars of content posted on media".
    - Apocryphon 4y ago
      https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1400166091586932736 https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1400166091586932736
      - colordrops 4y ago
        Evidence of them doing it is not an argument for it being the right thing to do.
        Apocryphon 4y ago
        Looks like the FBI has been public all this time about their ability to do that wrt elections: https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/safety-resources/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/election-crimes-and-security https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/safety-resources/sca... > Intentionally deceiving qualified voters to prevent them from voting is voter suppression—and it is a federal crime. > However, not all publicly available voting information is accurate, and some is deliberately designed to deceive you to keep you from voting. Bad actors use various methods to spread disinformation about voting, such as social media platforms, texting, or peer-to-peer messaging applications on smartphones. They may provide misleading information about the time, manner, or place of voting. This can include inaccurate election dates or false claims about voting qualifications or methods, such as false information suggesting that one may vote by text, which is not allowed in any jurisdiction. > Help defend the right to vote by reporting any suspected instances of voter suppression—especially those received through a private communication channel like texting—to your local FBI field office or at tips.fbi.gov. So it sounds like they're actively doing this outside of Twitter or social media in general. IANAL, but here's a Georgetown Law info sheet about how that works, and cites several federal law statues that are applicable: https://www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2020/10/Voter-Intimidation-Fact-Sheet.pdf https://www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/wp-content/uploads/sites... And a Columbia Law paper that examines the issue in detail: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=public_integrity https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?art... And also this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34026228 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34026228

by djur 4y ago

colordrops 4y ago

No government entity should be involved in the slightest in policing media in order to "protect" elections. It's very subjective and extremely ripe for abuse. The only reason election outcomes are so vulnerable to media manipulation is because the US political system is captured by cynical corporate interests that draw an arbitrary line unrelated to idealism across a set of issues to split voters almost perfectly at 50/50, then do everything in their power through corporate media to minimize third parties and use legal challenges to remove them from the ballot. If viable candidates that actually served the interest of the public rather than the ruling class were given fair access to the process, then we wouldn't be so vulnerable to manipulation. The FBI's role is to protect interests of the corporate elite in their backdoor dealings with various media outlets.

Apocryphon 4y ago
> No government entity should be involved in the slightest in policing media in order to "protect" elections. It's very subjective and extremely ripe for abuse. The FEC can impose all sorts of fines, they arguably have more teeth than this.
- colordrops 4y ago
  Let me clarify: they should not be involved in "policing the particulars of content posted on media".
  - Apocryphon 4y ago
    https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1400166091586932736 https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1400166091586932736
    - colordrops 4y ago
      Evidence of them doing it is not an argument for it being the right thing to do.
      - Apocryphon 4y ago
        Looks like the FBI has been public all this time about their ability to do that wrt elections: https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/safety-resources/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/election-crimes-and-security https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/safety-resources/sca... > Intentionally deceiving qualified voters to prevent them from voting is voter suppression—and it is a federal crime. > However, not all publicly available voting information is accurate, and some is deliberately designed to deceive you to keep you from voting. Bad actors use various methods to spread disinformation about voting, such as social media platforms, texting, or peer-to-peer messaging applications on smartphones. They may provide misleading information about the time, manner, or place of voting. This can include inaccurate election dates or false claims about voting qualifications or methods, such as false information suggesting that one may vote by text, which is not allowed in any jurisdiction. > Help defend the right to vote by reporting any suspected instances of voter suppression—especially those received through a private communication channel like texting—to your local FBI field office or at tips.fbi.gov. So it sounds like they're actively doing this outside of Twitter or social media in general. IANAL, but here's a Georgetown Law info sheet about how that works, and cites several federal law statues that are applicable: https://www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2020/10/Voter-Intimidation-Fact-Sheet.pdf https://www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/wp-content/uploads/sites... And a Columbia Law paper that examines the issue in detail: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=public_integrity https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?art... And also this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34026228 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34026228