The Kamala Harris campaign is facing scrutiny over allegations of manipulating social media to inflate her popularity and evade fact-checks. According to an investigation by The Federalist, Harris’ team allegedly organized an effort on Discord, coordinating volunteers to push pro-Harris content across platforms like Reddit and X.
Harris campaign staffers reportedly directed supporters on Reddit to up-vote content favoring Harris and down-vote posts critical of her, generating an appearance of broad support. In a short period, this strategy allegedly resulted in thousands of posts and over 5.7 million upvotes, with more than 400,000 comments. Of the top posts on Reddit’s “Politics” section last month, more than 120 were reportedly linked to Harris supporters, according to The Federalist.
Elon Musk launching an investigation into Harris campaign's manipulation of social media platforms?
About time someone looked into this! Harris campaign busted for "astroturfing" on Reddit, now caught red-handed again.
When will people learn that fake support doesn't equal…
— Stop Socialist Tyranny (@endlibtyranny) November 4, 2024
Similar tactics are reportedly used on X, where Harris’ team allegedly seeks to block “community notes,” the fact-check feature that adds context to potentially misleading posts. Harris staffers reportedly instructed followers to mass “dislike” unfavorable community notes, effectively preventing them from appearing on her posts.
Additionally, Google’s role in this operation is under question, with reports that Harris’ campaign has modified headlines in search results to appear more favorable. Mainstream media sources like USA Today and NPR were reportedly unaware of these changes, leading to concerns that users are being misled when searching for news on Harris.
Are these fake pollsters, social media influencers & goof- ball celebrities being paid to support Kamaliar Harris?
— 🇺🇸 Clayton⚔️Thompson 🗽 (@Sam695411) November 3, 2024
Elon Musk, CEO of X, has responded to the allegations by opening an investigation into the Harris campaign’s activities on his platform. The investigation underscores concerns over the ethical and legal implications of such tactics, as the Harris campaign faces increased scrutiny for its online practices.
