Deceptive ‘bait-and-switch’ Facebook groups ensnare US voters: Study

WASHINGTON: Dozens of Facebook groups are billing themselves as Kamala Harris fan pages but launching racist attacks, criticizing her immigration record and promoting her rival Donald Trump, in what disinformation researchers call a “bait-and-switch” tactic name, aimed at misleading voters in a tight American election race.

The Washington-based American Sunlight Project analyzed more than 300 groups on Meta’s platform, which pose as pro-Harris pages while misleading the Democratic candidate’s supporters with offensive, hateful messages or taking advantage of her popularity to sell merchandise. promote.

The proliferation of such Facebook groups, which typically bring together communities with shared interests, does not appear to be an organized effort and illustrates a sophisticated tactic to spread false election narratives in trusted online spaces.

“These are usually places where there is a high level of trust among members, making them more likely to believe what is shared there, whether that is election disinformation, miracle cures or memes,” said Nina Jankowicz, co-founder and CEO of ASP. , told AFP.

The bait-and-switch tactic appears to target actors across the political spectrum, including Trump.

But Jankowicz, the former head of disinformation at the Department of Homeland Security, said her research team noticed an “explosion” of such groups focused on Harris since she entered the presidential race this summer.

One group claims to be a space for “Kamala Harris fans,” praising her in the “about” section as a “trailblazer, a symbol of diversity, and a champion of justice and equality.”

But within the group, posts attempt to undermine Harris, including one with a photo of a brown woman smearing her face with black paint next to the caption: “Kamala getting ready to talk to black people.”

The post echoed Trump’s false claim that Harris was “going black” and that she was exploiting her race to sway African-American voters.

Harris is the first Black, South Asian and female vice president in American history.