
Redditors discover #ReopenAmerica was started as an astroturfing campaign - milkytron
https://old.reddit.com/r/MassMove/comments/g3toiz/a_post_by_udr_midnight_collating_information_on/fnv8j69/
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fack
[https://twitter.com/alibreland/status/1252037486295031808](https://twitter.com/alibreland/status/1252037486295031808)

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free_rms
On the one hand, we've got a super-long effort post with lots of cites and
documentation.

On the other, a guy on twitter met an old hippie that says otherwise.

Seems pretty metaphorical for the whole situation, no?

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jlmorton
This is not just a guy on Twitter, he's a well-known reporter for Mother Jones
Magazine.

What he's saying does not dispute anything in the well-cited Reddit post. It
just offers new information which paints it in an entirely different light.
Because rather than basing the entire allegation on WHOIS records, he reached
out to talk to the person involved, something that reporters do, but the
Reddit hivemind does not.

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free_rms
Did you read the comment that _this_ thread is linked to?

It's not based on WHOIS records for non-existent sites, it's based on CMS,
HTML elements and identifies specific PR consultancies.

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akersten
It's pretty easy to understand this operation exists as part of an ongoing
campaign to sow discord in the West. What better way to divide a nation than
to encourage and exploit an existing polarization, rather than doing the dirty
work yourself. Political subterfuge has evolved to be a lot more subtle -
plant the seeds of discontent via Facebook events or meme factories, and watch
groups take them up.

Similar to how completely baseless ideas that 5G causes cancer or coronavirus
popped up out of nowhere - and you wind up with citizens destroying their
country's own infrastructure[0]. An adversary's dream!

[0]: [https://venturebeat.com/2020/04/03/uk-
debunks-5g-coronavirus...](https://venturebeat.com/2020/04/03/uk-
debunks-5g-coronavirus-link-after-conspiracy-theorists-burn-cell-tower/)

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Meekro
That whole post is based on a misunderstanding of what OneClickPolitics does:
it manages websites, paid ads, and social media campaigns for advocacy groups.
These websites look cookie-cutter because the OneClickPolitics platform auto-
generates them. It's like saying that all Shopify stores look similar.

Their "OneClick Acquisition" platform delivers "on demand, organic supporters
through our proprietary _digital ad placement_ technology." They design and
place digital ads to attract supporters to your campaign. If they were just
hiring people to pretend to be supporters, they wouldn't need to place ads
searching for them.

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jlmorton
Please see a follow-up from Mother Jones reporter Ali Breland [1].

While the Reddit thread accurately described that these domain names were all
purchased by a single entity, it appears that this entity is not a shadowy
conservative astroturf group, but rather a guy who purchased them to prevent
them from being registered by conservative groups, or maybe just to squat on
them.

He's now being doxxed.

[1]
[https://twitter.com/alibreland/status/1252037486295031808](https://twitter.com/alibreland/status/1252037486295031808)

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mcphage
> described that these domain names were all purchased by a single entity

That definitely isn't all of them, because a lot of them resolve to actual
sites.

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tathougies
I don't really understand the evidence being promulgated. Anyone care to
explain? In particular I'm confused at the distinction between 'astroturfing'
and 'grassroots'. The chief complaint seems to be that a 'corporation' is
behind the campaign as if this stands in opposition to a group of concerned
individuals being behind it. Last I checked, any group of people can start a
corporation, apply for non-profit status, and register a domain name.
Shouldn't the criteria for distinguishing between astroturfing and grassroots
involve more than just seeing if a corporation is behind the campaign?
Shouldn't we have to look into which corporation is doing it, their history,
etc? And if it is just another NGO/non-profit, which shouldn't the be allowed
to campaign on behalf of their donors? I'm just confused honestly, and have
never understood astroturfing. Help me hacker news.

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ryanianian
Perhaps your comment was directed at a different post? This post is about
spreadsheets.

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recursive
Perhaps your comment was directed at a different post? This post is about a
twitter hashtag.

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simcop2387
A related discussion from /r/bestof/ which tries to be a meta-discussion about
the "best" posts and comments on reddit

[https://www.reddit.com/r/bestof/comments/g3sw2l/the_user_udr...](https://www.reddit.com/r/bestof/comments/g3sw2l/the_user_udr_midnight_uncovers_a_massive/)

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surround
This post was quickly taken off of the front page. Can we get an explanation?

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surround
I guess it was flagged because it was kind of political and would probably
start a flame war. I don’t know why I couldn’t think of that.

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eqdw
Now do all the protests from 3 years ago

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Obi_Juan_Kenobi
I've seen a lot of "just asking questions" about the difference between
astroturfing vs. grassroots in discussion related to this issue. Phrased in an
oddly similar way.

Keep your head on a swivel.

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fakeSocialMedia
These people are calling it Astroturfing but in reality it's just
organization.

I am dumbfounded that opening the country now that the curve was flattened is
now political.

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danaris
The purpose of flattening the curve isn't to then celebrate victory and return
to normal. Now we need to _ride out_ that flattened curve.

Open everything now will just result in all that we've been through thus far
being for nothing as infections spike again.

