8 OF THE TOP 10 stories on Facebook yesterday were by the Daily Wire, the far-right site founded by Ben Shapiro
This is a site that does no original reporting and just aggregates other outlets with an emphasis on white grievance
Facebook says engagement on the site just reflects what people are interested in. But this is the only context in which people are interested in The Daily Wire and nothing else.
As a reminder, popular.info uncovered evidence that the Daily Wire was breaking Facebook's rules, Facebook admitted the Daily Wire was breaking Facebook's rules, and then Facebook declined to impose any penalty on Daily Wire for doing so
1. In January, The Rule of Law Defense Fund, the policy arm of the @RepublicanAGs, sent robocalls urging people to "March to Congress" on 1/6 and "stop the steal"
Now the @RepublicanAGs have PROMOTED the head of The Rule of Law Defense Fund to lead their entire organization
@RepublicanAGs 2. The decision to promote Peter Bisbee to exec director of @RepublicanAGs is controversial even w/i the organization.
The chairman of @RepublicanAGs, @ChrisCarr_Ga, abruptly resigned, citing "vastly opposite views of the significance of the events of January 6"
3. “I felt we needed to go in a new direction. Some in the organization did not believe this was necessary." Georgia Attorney General @ChrisCarr_Ga said
UPDATE: Members of the Texas legislature are seeking retribution against companies like @Dell and @AmericanAir that spoke out against voter suppression legislation.
They are attempting to punish these companies for political speech.
Follow along if interested.
@Dell@AmericanAir 2. GOP TX Rep @TomOliverson has proposed an amendment to the budget requiring corporations to "certify that the business has not publicly opposed any legislation filed in this or another state in 2020 or 2021 related to election integrity" as a condition of receiving grants
3. What's remarkable about this is that under @TomOliverson's amendment corporations SUPPORTING voter suppression laws remain eligible for grants. Under this amendment, only opposing legislation in Texas or any other state disqualifies a company.
1. @SenRickScott is openly using mob-style tactics to pressure corporations to fund Republicans who voted to overturn the election and are now pushing voter suppression legislation
Scott promised "a day of reckoning" when/if Republicans take the Senate
@SenRickScott 2. This is what Scott is saying IN PUBLIC. But his tactics are working with a handful of corporations who have resumed funding the @NRSC, which is chaired by Scott.
UPDATE: In a company obtained by popular.info, @ATT CEO John Stankey says AT&T should not be held accountable for the policy views of the politicians it backs
"It's likely our employee PACs have contributed to policymakers in support of and opposed to any given issue"
@ATT .@ATT has donated 574K to the sponsors of Texas' voter suppression bill but refused to speak out against it.
Stankey says "election laws differ from state to state, are varying and complex, not our company’s expertise and ultimately the responsibility of elected officials"
@ATT .@ATT's Stankey says he's reluctant to get involved with politics but he now recognizes it's in "AT&T’s long-term interests" for him to advocate centrism.
UPDATE: On 1/12, @PNCBank said it "suspended contributions to those members of Congress who voted against the certification of the nation’s valid Electoral College votes."
On 3/24 PNC donated 15K to the @NRSC, which is chaired by @SenRickScott, who voted against certification
@PNCBank@NRSC@SenRickScott UPDATE: After 1/6, @Intel said it "will not contribute to members of Congress who voted against certification of the Electoral College results."
On 3/2 Intel donated 15K to the @NRSC, which is chaired by @SenRickScott, who voted against certification
@PNCBank@NRSC@SenRickScott@intel On 1/17, @Oracle said that it would "pause contributions to anyone who voted against certifying the November 2020 election results."
On 3/25 Oracle donated $3750 to the @NRSC, which is chaired by @SenRickScott, who voted against certification