Former internet troll Douglass Mackey has been found guilty of violating people's constitutional rights with 2016 memes telling Hillary fans to vote by text
Mackey and his associates designed similar calls to action. They created an image urging Clinton supporters to vote on Twitter and Facebook using a hashtag, including her campaign logo and a link to her website for legitimacy. Some of the memes appeared to target Black voters, like one featuring an image of a Black person in front of an “African Americans for Hillary” sign. Mackey shared a similar message written entirely in Spanish, the complaint said.
A week before the election, according to court filings, Mackey Tweeted about the importance of limiting the Black vote to ensure Trump’s victory. “Obviously, we can win Pennsylvania,” he said. “The key is to drive up turnout with non-college whites, and limit black turnout.” Twitter suspended Mackey at least twice after he began spreading false information. Prosecutors claimed the memes had already reached a wide audience, however, and continued to spread. As a result of Mackey’s misinformation campaign, prosecutors claimed, 4,900 phone numbers texted the number he’d set up in a futile effort to cast votes for Hillary Clinton.
In his opening statement, Mackey’s attorney, Frisch, argued that people only began texting the false text-to-vote number after media outlets covered the disinformation campaign and it became a national news story. Two people texted “Hillary for prison” to the number, he said. Frisch compared Mackey’s memes to a rap battle or a celebrity roast — designed to shock and get under the skin of those holding opposing viewpoints. He said the marketplace of ideas requires the toleration of all kinds of speech, even things said in bad taste. “It’s through speech that truth comes out,” he said, and accused the government of lacking evidence that Mackey had conspired to do anything but gain attention through “shitposting” on social media.
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