Mike Bloomberg's campaign is polluting the internet

[demmiblue]

From doctored videos to fake quotes, the presidential candidate is muddying the water online – and it’s working

If a dumpster is already on fire, is there any harm in throwing some more trash into it?

Mike Bloomberg’s campaign has spent the last month unapologetically performing the digital equivalent of dumping buckets of fresh garbage into the trash fire that is internet discourse in 2020, apparently with little or no concern for the toxic side effects.

It’s a cynical approach, and if left unchecked, it threatens to poison the atmosphere for good.

The first sign that the Bloomberg campaign was prepared to test the unwritten rules around digital campaigning came in mid-February, when a coordinated “influencer” campaign flooded Instagram with paid content promoting the image of the 78-year-old billionaire as a bumbling but lovable dad just trying to get down with the kids. The Bloomberg “memes” conveniently sidestepped the transparency rules Facebook and Instagram put in place after the 2016 election, while attracting huge amounts of attention and media coverage.

Next came the campaign’s infamous post-debate video, which used editing tricks to fabricate a moment of triumph for Bloomberg out of decidedly less triumphant raw material. The video showed Bloomberg’s Democratic rivals struck dumb for 20 seconds after Bloomberg asserted that he was the only person on stage to have started a business; Bloomberg did make that statement, but the extended silence was faked.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/26/mike-bloomberg-social-media-strategy

Heh... when I searched the title, I came upon this post: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142058603

Michael Bloomberg calls 'epidemic of dishonesty' bigger threat than terrorism

Americans are facing an “epidemic of dishonesty” in Washington that is more dangerous than terrorism or communism, according to former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.

In a commencement speech on Saturday at Rice University in Houston, the billionaire said “an endless barrage of lies” and a trend toward “alternate realities” in national politics pose a dire threat to US democracy.

The 76-year-old, who flirted with an independent presidential run in 2016, did not call out any politicians by name. Although he derided Donald Trump as “a con” and a “dangerous demagogue” before his election, in an interview before the speech at Rice Bloomberg refused to comment specifically on the president. Fact checkers have determined that Trump has made hundreds of false and misleading statements since entering the Oval Office.

“This is bigger than any one person,” Bloomberg said. “It’s bigger than any one party.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/12/michael-bloomberg-epidemic-of-dishonesty-threat-democracy