,
11 tweets,
6 min read
Read on Twitter
1/With the Dem Presidential primary starting in earnest now, important party leaders, the candidates set some ground rules abt use of illicit social media tactics in the coming debate. Critical Ds work together to prevent pollution of our discourse - 2016 can never happen again.
2/First, the DNC/State Parties should ask all the 2020s to sign a pledge to forgo use of illicit tactics. No bots, troll, troll farms, fake accounts, fake sites, deepfakes/false images, hacking or use of hacked materials.
3/Next the 2020 campaigns should make their commitment to forgoing use of illicit tactics public and detailed. It should be on their websites, and clear to all. They should have staff monitoring this activity, and pledge to report illicit activity to sm media platforms, FBI.
4/The DNC has to set up a team who helps set best practices, does info sharing, helps manage the relationship with the platforms, law enforcement, DHS. And goes after illicit actors and takes them off line. This is new stuff, and we have to learn together how to combat it.
5/I helped set up and run a unit at the @DCCC this past cycle which attacked illicit political activity. We did takedowns with the platforms, reported things to the FBI, helped train campaigns, staff. More on that here - nbcnews.com/think/opinion/…
6/Here is more about the holistic approach we took to combating disinformation in 2018- get louder on line first, be smart about monitoring, and aggressive in countering incl take downs. We are not powerless here. washingtonpost.com/politics/democ…
7/Perhaps our proudest moment was when this @oneunderscore__ NBC News piece ran. Details RW trolls angry, frustrated by takedowns from the platforms. Was stuff found by @DCCC and reported in. Shows you can make a difference. nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news…
8/What can you do to help, keep our discourse/debate for people and not bots and trolls? 1) Block, block, block folks harassing you. Any one who swears. goes over the line in any way just block 'em. No reason to put up with that. 2) Report illicit activity to the platforms.
9/Get smarter. Follow @josh_emerson, @benimmo, @donie, @oneunderscore__ , @MollyMcKew, @katestarbird, @conspirator0, @noUpside, @popular_vote16. @profcarroll, and others you think help you understand this new world of mis/disinfo.
10/Final point. Yes media, govt must do more. But can't wait, and there is a lot we can do to clean up the ugly and illicit discourse in our politics. 2020 Democrats should lead the way, establish new norms, discourage proliferation. Our democracy depends on us prevailing.
11/Again, here is our recent @NBCNewsTHINK op-ed which discusses what we learned running the @DCCC's disinfo and cyber operation in 2018, and some thoughts on the path forward. Enjoy. nbcnews.com/think/opinion/…
