Twitter user Douglass Mackey sentenced to 7 months in prison after being found guilty of election interference for making memes disparaging Hillary

[USincognito]

Sticks and stones can break your bone, but memes will get you prison time.

So won't voter suppression.

 

[YorkieGal]

That's actually a separate conversation...

But for the record, I was critical of the fact that government actors were putting, what I felt, was pressure on social media outlets to hide the NY Post story.

That being said, someone opting not to allow something on a platform isn't the same as taking a proactive dishonest action.

For instance, if I was someone who was against concealed carry, there's a huge difference between
"I'm not going publish/advertise what the process is because I don't want people to do it"
vs.
"I'm going to blast text 50,000 people and falsely tell them that there's constitutional carry in their jurisdiction (when there isn't) so that they get in trouble"


Or perhaps a better way to boil it down to its base elements:
It's the difference between refusing to talk about something vs. lying. (our legal system makes that distinction too)

It's not separate at all. It's the crux of the conversation and the whole reason everyone who disagrees with this disagrees.

 

[USincognito]

Then you need to jail people on the left for the same behavior.

Please cite an example of someone on the left doing the sane thing and not being prosecuted.

 

[DaisyDay]

I think it's worth pointing out that this was a jury trial. The jury was not (merely) shown memes. They heard testimony of how the guilty party conspired to influence the election. And convicted him.

These were fake Hillary campaign ads, mimicking the font, symbols and style as well as fraudulently claiming to be from the campaign - telling people they can vote via text. Nearly five thousand people did text "Hillary" to the number provided, at least some thinking they were actually voting.

 

[BPPLEE]

These were fake Hillary campaign ads, mimicking the font, symbols and style as well as fraudulently claiming to be from the campaign - telling people they can vote via text. Nearly five thousand people did text "Hillary" to the number provided, at least some thinking they were actually voting.

I have to agree with you in this case. When he set up an actual number that people could text that went way beyond satire

 

[GoldenBoy89]

This excuse was meant as a joke way back when Sideshow Bob used it.

 

[GoldenBoy89]

View attachment 337978

Elon Musk point of view

Any reason you thought his point of view is relevant here?

 

[YorkieGal]

Any reason you thought his point of view is relevant here?

Any reason you don't?

 

[HARK!]

MOD HAT ON

Let's not take this thread off topic. If you see an off topic post; don't respond to it, thereby taking the thread further off topic.

Report it.

MOD HAT OFF​

 

[GoldenBoy89]

.

 

[GoldenBoy89]

.

 

[ranunculus]

What? "Winter of death"? Is this some bizarre Game of Thrones reference?

A fetishized phrase from 2021

 

[KCfromNC]

That’s besides the point. A jury reviewed the evidence and the charges and voted to convict. They could certainly all be wrong. You haven’t shown that they are though.

What special insight do you have to say otherwise?

What, you weren't convinced by the amount of research and fact-finding that went into producing the sophisticated legal argument of "LOL"?

 

[KCfromNC]

But if you're going after the political right for making memes

When did this happen?

 

[KCfromNC]

As I said earlier, our justice system seems to be aligned to one side at the minute and that is a scary place to be as a nation.

An alternative view - one political party seems so committed to staying in power that they're willing to break the law to try and do so.

See the OP for an example.

 

[rambot]

It's disappointing that anyone would reduce and misrepresent the characterization of what this guy did as "just making memes". But given posters willingness to compare illegal, prosecuted in court, outcomes of messages that they support, with unsubstantiated, unprosecuted and unproven rumours of their political enemies, it shouldn't be surprising.

 

[YorkieGal]

I have to agree with you in this case. When he set up an actual number that people could text that went way beyond satire

I didn't see this info in the original articles. Yes, this would change things and mean things went beyond a meme.

 

[Bradskii]

I didn't see this info in the original articles. Yes, this would change things and mean things went beyond a meme.

I think that there's more than enough info in the article to convince anyone that he was acting illegally. Apart from some opinions expressed in the first few lines, this is about the whole article.


The DOJ alleged that "Mackey was sending tweets suggesting the importance of limiting 'black turnout,' the defendant tweeted an image depicting an African American woman standing in front of an 'African Americans for Hillary' sign. The ad stated: 'Avoid the Line. Vote from Home,' 'Text ‘Hillary’ to 59925,' and 'Vote for Hillary and be a part of history.'"

"The fine print at the bottom of the deceptive image stated: 'Must be 18 or older to vote. One vote per person. Must be a legal citizen of the United States. Voting by text not available in Guam, Puerto Rico, Alaska or Hawaii. Paid for by Hillary For President 2016.' The tweet included the typed hashtag '#ImWithHer,' a slogan frequently used by Hillary Clinton. On or about and before Election Day 2016, at least 4,900 unique telephone numbers texted 'Hillary' or some derivative to the 59925 text number, which had been used in multiple deceptive campaign images tweeted by Mackey and his co-conspirators."

"Mackey has been found guilty by a jury of his peers of attempting to deprive individuals from exercising their sacred right to vote for the candidate of their choice in the 2016 Presidential Election," stated United States Attorney Peace at the time. "Today’s verdict proves that the defendant’s fraudulent actions crossed a line into criminality and flatly rejects his cynical attempt to use the constitutional right of free speech as a shield for his scheme to subvert the ballot box and suppress the vote."

"As alleged in the complaint, between September 2016 and November 2016, in the lead up to Nov. 8, 2016, U.S. Presidential Election, Mackey conspired with others to use social media platforms, including Twitter, to disseminate fraudulent messages designed to encourage supporters of one of the presidential candidates (the 'Candidate') to 'vote' via text message or social media, a legally invalid method of voting," the DOJ stated, describing the meme.

"According to the allegations in the complaint, the defendant exploited a social media platform to infringe one the of most basic and sacred rights guaranteed by the Constitution: the right to vote," said Nicholas L. McQuaid, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. "This complaint underscores the department’s commitment to investigating and prosecuting those who would undermine citizens’ voting rights."

 

[rambot]

I think that there's more than enough info in the article to convince anyone that he was acting illegally. Apart from some opinions expressed in the first few lines, this is about the whole article.


The DOJ alleged that "Mackey was sending tweets suggesting the importance of limiting 'black turnout,' the defendant tweeted an image depicting an African American woman standing in front of an 'African Americans for Hillary' sign. The ad stated: 'Avoid the Line. Vote from Home,' 'Text ‘Hillary’ to 59925,' and 'Vote for Hillary and be a part of history.'"

"The fine print at the bottom of the deceptive image stated: 'Must be 18 or older to vote. One vote per person. Must be a legal citizen of the United States. Voting by text not available in Guam, Puerto Rico, Alaska or Hawaii. Paid for by Hillary For President 2016.' The tweet included the typed hashtag '#ImWithHer,' a slogan frequently used by Hillary Clinton. On or about and before Election Day 2016, at least 4,900 unique telephone numbers texted 'Hillary' or some derivative to the 59925 text number, which had been used in multiple deceptive campaign images tweeted by Mackey and his co-conspirators."

"Mackey has been found guilty by a jury of his peers of attempting to deprive individuals from exercising their sacred right to vote for the candidate of their choice in the 2016 Presidential Election," stated United States Attorney Peace at the time. "Today’s verdict proves that the defendant’s fraudulent actions crossed a line into criminality and flatly rejects his cynical attempt to use the constitutional right of free speech as a shield for his scheme to subvert the ballot box and suppress the vote."

"As alleged in the complaint, between September 2016 and November 2016, in the lead up to Nov. 8, 2016, U.S. Presidential Election, Mackey conspired with others to use social media platforms, including Twitter, to disseminate fraudulent messages designed to encourage supporters of one of the presidential candidates (the 'Candidate') to 'vote' via text message or social media, a legally invalid method of voting," the DOJ stated, describing the meme.

"According to the allegations in the complaint, the defendant exploited a social media platform to infringe one the of most basic and sacred rights guaranteed by the Constitution: the right to vote," said Nicholas L. McQuaid, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. "This complaint underscores the department’s commitment to investigating and prosecuting those who would undermine citizens’ voting rights."

Interesting article. So it seems that to support this man you really would have had to take steps to remain underinformed.

 

[Bradskii]

Interesting article. So it seems that to support this man you really would have had to take steps to remain underinformed.

Indeed. Heaven forbid one should bother reading anything more than the headline. Almost 80% of the article explains in quite some detail why the guy was convicted. And it wasn't because he made some cheeky memes for a laugh.

I don't get it. There have been umpteen posts explaining this and virtually the whole piece from the news outlet explains it all yet it takes 160+ posts for the penny to drop.