Marketing tactics used to subvert U.S. elections
NEW YORK — The latest efforts to disrupt the U.S. midterm elections through Facebook manipulation seem to be following a persuasion playbook refined by legitimate companies and organizations — but with a twist.
The aim of these possibly Russia-linked perpetrators appears to be to draw in as many people as possible with emotional appeals and then spur them to action. In this case, though, the action is public protest rather than affinity marketing, and the goal is to sow dissension rather than to build brand awareness.
“They’re almost functioning like social media editors, figuring out what the trending topics are in the U.S. and figuring out where they can insert themselves,” said Jennifer Grygiel, a communications professor at Syracuse University.
The idea, experts say, is to widen the rifts in the U.S. population via propaganda that is less about winning hearts and minds and much more about setting Americans against one another.
The removed pages share “moralistic language” and appeal to emotions, said Jay Van Bavel, a New York University psychology professor who studies group identity. “The conflict already existed but they’re stirring it up, picking at a scab.”
David Stewart, a marketing and business law professor at Loyola Marymount University, said those behind the scheme are trying to create an “us versus them” mentality, without which Facebook users might not be so polarized.
Groups tied to the Russian government have been trying to meddle in U.S. politics since at least the 2016 elections. In February, the Justice Department charged 13 Russians and three companies with plotting to aid Donald Trump’s presidential campaign through fake Facebook posts, ads and groups.
More recently, Facebook said it had removed 32 apparently fake accounts and pages on Facebook and Instagram created by “bad actors” involved in what Facebook calls inauthentic political behavior ahead of the U.S. midterms. Although Facebook didn’t specifically say Russians were behind the latest efforts, the reported activity shared many similarities with Russian influence campaigns during the 2016 presidential election.
It isn’t clear how well the efforts worked or if they have swayed the outcome of elections, either in 2016 or this time around. Sowing discord, however, could prompt people to stay home instead of voting — or to vote for more extreme candidates who support their view, experts say. Discord could also lead to real-world violence and conflict.
The removed accounts appear designed “to trigger standoffs between genuine Americans, bringing the risk of real-life violence from false stories,” wrote the Digital Forensic Research Lab of the Atlantic Council, which has been working with Facebook to study misinformation and foreign interference on its services.