In a report overflowing with self-congratulations on Tuesday, the Washington Post patted itself on the back for “investigating” a group of conservative activists on Twitter and Facebook, asking questions that ultimately led to those platforms banning the pro-Trump accounts from their sites. In the report, the Post baselessly compared the young activists to “Russian bots” and “Macedonian troll farms,” insisting that their coordinated efforts were akin to foreign election interference. The Post, however, saw no irony in the fact that by meddling in social media business, they too were putting their thumb on the election scale.
“In response to questions from The Post, Twitter on Tuesday suspended at least 20 accounts involved in the activity for ‘platform manipulation and spam.’ Facebook also removed a number of accounts as part of what the company said is an ongoing investigation,” the paper bragged.
Neither the Post nor Facebook nor Twitter have, actually, presented any evidence that the accounts were bots or in any way violating company terms. The conservatives banned by the sites were all using their actual accounts and posting the kind of pro-Trump and conservative memes and remarks that are common to social media.
As Breitbart pointed out, there are plenty of Democratic organizations doing the exact same thing:
The Texas Democrat Party is currently advertising for a “deputy digital organizing director” who will “Recruit and manage an in-state volunteer digital captains program to develop, curate, and distribute grassroots-generated content in support of Democrats up and down the ticket.”
The South Carolina Democrat party is currently recruiting a “digital organizing manager,” who will “develop volunteer communities via Facebook, Slack, and/or other online platforms.”
In a statement, a spokesman for Students for Trump said it was irresponsible for the Washington Post to compare American activists to Russian bots and trolls.
“Comparing American conservative teenagers to Russian bots is, in and of itself, the height of misinformation by the mainstream media,” said the spokesman. “They should be ashamed. It’s beyond ridiculous at this point.”
Oh, it’s been beyond ridiculous for a long time.
