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From The Federalist: In the previous installments of this investigation into how the Harris-Walz presidential campaign is dishonestly manipulating online platforms, I noted the existence of a Discord server where campaign employees coordinate with a volunteer army to flood social media sites with campaign propaganda. The volunteers also vote en masse on social media to artificially boost Harris-Walz content or downvote content that is harmful to their campaign. Not only is this deceptive and misleading to voters, it’s a clear violation of these websites’ Terms of Service.
In part one and part two of the investigation, I noted this strategy had been successful at manipulating both Reddit and X. Over the past month, one out of every eight of the top stories in the eight-million-member Politics subreddit was planted by the campaign. On X, the campaign appears to have successfully voted down Community Notes accurately calling out the Harris campaign for tweeting out brazen lies.
But one activity I found on the Discord server was particularly concerning. After years of Democrats erroneously insisting that Donald Trump had colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election and otherwise warning of foreign election manipulation, the Harris-Walz campaign is actively recruiting foreigners to work on the campaign and is even encouraging them to donate to American political causes.
The writer for The Federalist, who goes by the pen name “Reddit Lies,” states, “my research found multiple foreign nationals actively volunteering for the Harris-Walz campaign. This activity, while permitted by the FEC, raises questions about whether foreigners should be allowed to volunteer for official U.S. political campaigns.”
The foreign nationals have reportedly made comments about how excited they are to volunteer to “save democracy,” asking how they can donate money to the Harris-Walz campaign, and Canadians even announcing plans to travel to Michigan to help with door-to-door canvassing.
The moderators on the Discord server were also seen distributing a link on how foreigners could take advantage of a “loophole” in order to donate.
“Federal law bans a foreign national from making contributions in connection with a federal, state or local election. But there’s a loophole,” they wrote, providing the link.
One comment posted on the platform reads:
“Online outreach is an option – from countering disinformation they spot in the wild to sharing info about Harris/Walz policies (or the links to speeches, or campaign social media posts) on social media. NATO, the climate, policies toward China, and maintaining the rule of law worldwide are all issues of global interest that they can start with to interest their audiences in the campaign. Non-citizens can also encourage their American colleagues, friends, and family to vote or get involved with volunteering activities, and share relevant links and info.”
One Canadian comments that he’s “working on US citizenship,” voices concern about being seen as meddling in US elections, but assures, “I’ll be for sure a US citizen by 2028.”
“You can volunteer even if you’re not eligible to vote. We only have 20 days left to make sure that Kamala wins. Will you join one of the priority phone banks?” a moderator replies to the Canadian.
Foreigners shouldn’t be allowed to volunteer for presidential campaigns. pic.twitter.com/D1ETok1IDR
— Reddit Lies (@reddit_lies) October 31, 2024
Harris Campaign Recruits Foreign Volunteers, Tells Noncitizens How To Skirt Donation Ruleshttps://t.co/bK7X8FP857
— The Federalist (@FDRLST) October 31, 2024
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