Trump’s 2016 Cambridge Analytica leak is exactly the insidious political microtargeting we’ve been up against for years, including @SenCoryGardner’s 2014 upset win. Here’s how Republicans & foreign ops have manipulated American politics for years — a thread. #cosen #copolitics
First, extreme political microtargeting (what I call “dark tech”) is when personal data is collected & aggregated to create detailed user profiles. Profiles are then categorized for targeted advertising to manipulate for political gain. More @NewslineCO👇
coloradonewsline.com/2020/07/01/how…
These tactics can be employed for short & long-term gain. For example, it can be used to win a specific election, or to seed long-term turmoil & instability via disinformation campaigns. We’ve seen this with Russian interference — make no mistake, this is 21st century warfare.
The US is long behind on preparing for 21st century (eg biological & technological) warfare. It‘s left us open to attacks both externally (foreign) & internally (political gain). It’s been underway for years, with contested 2014 elections serving as primers/test runs to 2016.
Which brings us to @SenCoryGardner — Colorado’s junior Republican Senator who upended a well-liked Democratic incumbent. Once elected, Gardner quickly maneuvered far right, now with full endorsements from & for Trump. His win has been questioned in the leaning-blue state...
In 2018, as more & more info has been collected, details suggest his campaign win was helped by Cambridge Analytica. @denverpost
denverpost.com/2018/03/26/cam…
A few days later, more details emerged on the Senator’s win by @CPRNews
cpr.org/2018/03/29/did…
But the trail went cold until 2019 when @FastCompany ran a deeper story on Cambridge Analytica confirming its ties to helping target voters to elect “hawkish Republican candidates like Tom Cotton & Cory Gardner” before helping Ted Cruz & Trump in 2016.
fastcompany.com/90235437/befor…
Voters should be aware “dark tech” persists in the 2020 election cycle. It’s also implicating the GOP in collusion of domestic attacks to disrupt American democracy by systematically weaponizing data for political gain. It’s crucial to vote out traitors undermining our democracy.
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