In Virginia House Race, Anonymous Attack Ads Pop Up on Facebook
Quote:
The ads paint Ms. Wexton as an “evil socialist,” with language and imagery not typically found in even the roughest campaigns. In one ad, which began running on Monday, Ms. Wexton is pictured next to an image of Nazi soldiers, and the ad’s text refers to her supporters as “modern-day brown shirts.” In another, which first ran this month, Ms. Wexton is compared to Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused the new Supreme Court justice, Brett M. Kavanaugh, of sexual assault. The image is captioned: “What’s the difference??? Nothing!! Both are liars.”
The person or group behind the ads is known to Facebook, but a mystery to the public...
...able to remain anonymous by taking advantage of a loophole in Facebook’s policy. Once authorized to pay for political ads, buyers are able to fill the “paid for by” field with whatever text they want, even if it does not match the name of a Facebook user or page, and even if it is not an organization registered with the Federal Election Commission. Facebook does not reveal the identity of authorized ad buyers, or allow users to get more information about them...
Virginia’s 10th District, which has a larger than average number of college graduates and a large immigrant population, is a top target for Democrats as they aim to take back control of the House.
Most polls have Ms. Wexton solidly in the lead, and the Cook Political Report, an independent political analyst, has rated the race “lean Democratic.”
17 Oct 2018, 7:04 pm
