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Social Media Giant 'Accidentally' Hands GOP Voter Information to Democrats
Red State ^ | Sep 08, 2022 10:00 AM ET | By Bonchie

Posted on 09/08/2022 7:26:04 AM PDT by Red Badger

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Get ready to be shocked. Another “mistake” by a social media company just so happened to benefit Democrats heading into an election. Isn’t it so weird how that keeps happening?

In this case, Snap (formerly known as Snapchat), says it “inadvertently” exposed collected data on Republican voters to Democrat firms. Those firms then used that data to target political ads before the mid-terms.

Axios has the story, though they frame it exactly as you’d expect.

A slip-up by social media giant Snap allowed leading Democratic campaigns and party committees to unwittingly tap into a vast repository of Republican voter data to hone their midterm ads, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: There’s no indication Snap was aware of or facilitated that data sharing, and the company said it’s taking steps to rectify the oversight. But the blunder underscores the sensitivities surrounding reams of voter data that have become a highly valuable political commodity.

According to the report, Snap allowed Democrat organizations to access the voter data of Republican-allied firm i360, which was founded by Charles Koch. That means those Democrat organizations could then hone their campaign ads to target specific voters who are deemed to be persuadable.

Snap provided this statement in response.

“Unfortunately, due to an internal mistake, we didn’t follow this usual process — which resulted in these two companies’ services being used by advertisers outside of the process, impacting a small number of ads,” a Snap spokesperson told Axios.

What exactly was the internal mistake? And how does such a mistake get made without it being purposeful? Since this only affected a couple of firms, that would seem to indicate that something manually must have been done. If this were just a backend problem, you would think it would have hit all accounts or at least a sizable number in a specific category.

If Snap wants to blame this on an oversight, then it needs to provide far more detail about how this happened than that statement gives. What “process” wasn’t followed? Why wasn’t it followed? Who didn’t do the following?

There’s a fine line here between defending the freedom of speech on the internet and allowing these social media companies to run amock with people’s data. Targeted leaking of information for political purposes has become rampant within the government. One look at how the DOJ is handling the Trump Mar-a-Lago case will show that. The next frontier is going to be social media companies exposing data for partisan reasons. If this was truly a “mistake,” then it needs to be fully explained and rectified. Running to Axios to spin a sympathetic story isn’t doing that.


TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Conspiracy; Government; Politics
KEYWORDS:
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1 posted on 09/08/2022 7:26:04 AM PDT by Red Badger
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To: Red Badger

Whoopsie!


2 posted on 09/08/2022 7:28:27 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (We are already in a revolutionary period, and the Rule of Law means nothing. )
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To: Red Badger

In other news, Republican-allied firm i360 provided your personal information to Snapchat.


3 posted on 09/08/2022 7:30:03 AM PDT by Round Earther
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To: Red Badger

This might be why I’m suddenly seeing liberal/progressive/anti-trump posts on facebook..


4 posted on 09/08/2022 7:36:41 AM PDT by GeorgiaDawg32 (q11)
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To: Red Badger

Oops. Just one of those “glitches”, not suspicious at all.


5 posted on 09/08/2022 7:40:29 AM PDT by ArcadeQuarters (Remember the 2020 backstabbers. No more RINOs ever!)
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To: Red Badger

As the ‘D’onkey Party is such a fan of the DEI mantra, would it not be an EQUITABLE thing for the DNC to match and provide a matching list?


6 posted on 09/08/2022 7:40:58 AM PDT by SES1066 (More & more it looks like Brandon's best decision was Kamala! UGH!)
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To: Red Badger

Donations. They donated to the Democrats.


7 posted on 09/08/2022 7:42:10 AM PDT by Bayard
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To: Red Badger

when will “they” be held accountable!


8 posted on 09/08/2022 7:42:42 AM PDT by bantam
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To: Red Badger

It seems that all such “mistakes“ happen in a manner that benefits Democrats, never Republicans or others. What an amazing and surprising coincidence this is.


9 posted on 09/08/2022 7:44:08 AM PDT by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.")
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To: Red Badger
Shocked-Shocked
10 posted on 09/08/2022 7:44:18 AM PDT by Westbrook (The Democrats are wizards at two things: Finding votes and losing evidence.)
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To: Red Badger

A couple of things ... what if i360 released intentionally invalid data to Snap?

Of course Snap will request that the data be returned and all copies destroyed to which the Ds will in all honestly agree. (/sarc)

And possibly the Rs will grow a set of bahls and sue Snap for a few hundred million dollars ... nah. One can count the Rs in Congress and the Senate who have stones on one’s fingers.


11 posted on 09/08/2022 7:47:28 AM PDT by ByteMercenary (Slo-Joe and KamalHo are not my leaders.)
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To: Red Badger

Social media giants never ever “accidently” hand Democrat Party voter information over to Republicans ...


12 posted on 09/08/2022 7:50:10 AM PDT by Ken522
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To: Red Badger

the cheat is real.


13 posted on 09/08/2022 7:55:06 AM PDT by Jonny7797
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To: Red Badger

Cheating, lying, and stealing is the foundation the demoncrat party is built on.

I’m ready for a nation divorce from these subcreatures from hell.


14 posted on 09/08/2022 7:58:18 AM PDT by Boomer ( George Orwell: “During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.” )
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To: Red Badger

Criminal charges need to be brought against them for being an unregistered political hack.


15 posted on 09/08/2022 8:05:06 AM PDT by Revel
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To: Red Badger
You're about to vote demonrat...

...and you don't/won't even know it.

"you'll own nothing and be happy"

16 posted on 09/08/2022 8:09:51 AM PDT by RckyRaCoCo (Please Pray For My Brother Ken.)
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To: RckyRaCoCo

“The masses never revolt of their own accord, and they never revolt merely because they are oppressed. Indeed, so long as they are not permitted to have standards of comparison, they never even become aware that they are oppressed.”
― George Orwell, 1984

“So long as they (the Proles) continued to work and breed, their other activities were without importance. Left to themselves, like cattle turned loose upon the plains of Argentina, they had reverted to a style of life that appeared to be natural to them, a sort of ancestral pattern...Heavy physical work, the care of home and children, petty quarrels with neighbors, films, football, beer and above all, gambling filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult.”
― George Orwell, 1984


17 posted on 09/08/2022 8:12:57 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Red Badger
”There’s no indication Snap was aware of or facilitated that data sharing”

Just because there is no visible “indication” does not mean it didn’t happen. They are good at covering their tracks and making lame public excuses.

“Unfortunately, due to an internal mistake, we didn’t follow this usual process…”

The only “mistake” was getting caught.

18 posted on 09/08/2022 8:17:08 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (“I used to be nothing but a Deplorable and Clinger, but I've been promoted to Ultra-MAGA”)
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To: Red Badger

No accident. Collusion to change the outcome of an election is a crime. Except that democrats are given a free pass.


19 posted on 09/08/2022 8:27:04 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Leftism is the denial of human nature.)
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To: Red Badger

Everyone who has or had an account with them needs to slam a lawsuit on their extreme left wing butts. Those people will be getting death threats galore form the violent Aunt Teefah fascists and their ‘RAT politician puppets.


20 posted on 09/08/2022 8:29:18 AM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (I always thought a Merry Garland was a Christmas tree decoration.)
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