Legacy media outlets don’t want social media users to post online anonymously because they want them to face retribution for what they post — even if it’s true.
The Associated Press (AP) published an article regarding a viral tweet posted by the X account “End Wokeness” that misinterpreted Social Security Administration data to suggest a spike in voter registrations submitted without an ID in key states that also permit illegal immigrants to get Social Security numbers. While the data was incorrect, the concerns raised about illegal immigrants voting are still valid.
“The incident sheds light on how social media accounts that shield the identities of the people or groups behind them through clever slogans and cartoon avatars have come to dominate right-wing political discussion online even as they spread false information,” the AP writes. “Many such internet personalities identify as patriotic citizen journalists uncovering real corruption. Yet their demonstrated ability to spread misinformation unchecked while disguising their true motives worries experts with the United States in a presidential election year.”
The AP cites “expert” Samuel Woolley, director of the Propaganda Research Lab at the University of Texas at Austin, who said these accounts are “antithetical to democracy.” Woolley’s work has been funded by Open Society Foundations, which was founded by George Soros and gives grants to left-wing advocacy groups.
The AP then cites Kara Alaimo, a communications professor at Farleigh Dickinson University who claims countries like “China and Russia are actively creating social media accounts designed to
