Facebook parent company Meta is paying one of the biggest Republican consulting firms in the country to orchestrate a nationwide campaign seeking to turn the public against TikTok. The campaign includes placing op-eds and letters to the editor in major regional news outlets, promoting dubious stories about alleged TikTok trends that actually originated on Facebook, and pushing to draw political reporters and local politicians into helping take down its biggest competitor. These bare-knuckle tactics, long commonplace in the world of politics, have become increasingly noticeable within a tech industry where companies vie for cultural relevance and come at a time when Facebook is under pressure to win back young users. Employees with the firm, Targeted Victory, worked to undermine TikTok through a nationwide media and lobbying campaign portraying the fast-growing app, owned by the Beijing-based company ByteDance, as a danger to American children and society, according to internal emails shared with The Washington Post.Why is the biggest thing about the revelation the fact that the consulting firm is Republican?
What makes a consulting firm Republican?
The Arlington, Va.-based firm advertises on its website that it brings “a right-of-center perspective to solve marketing challenges” and can deploy field teams “anywhere in the country within 48 hours.” The firm is one of the biggest recipients of Republican campaign spending, earning more than $237 million in 2020, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets. Its biggest payments came from national GOP congressional committees and America First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC.
Details on the anti-TikTok message Targeted Victory has been pushing.
Targeted Victory needs to “get the message out that while Meta is the current punching bag, TikTok is the real threat especially as a foreign owned app that is #1 in sharing data that young teens are using,” a director for the firm wrote in a February email....
In other emails, Targeted Victory urged partners to push stories to local media tying TikTok to dangerous teen trends in an effort to show the app’s purported harms. “Any local examples of bad TikTok trends/stories in your markets?” a Targeted Victory staffer asked.
“Dream would be to get stories with headlines like ‘From dances to danger: how TikTok has become the most harmful social media space for kids,’” the staffer wrote....
One trend Targeted Victory sought to enhance through its work was the “devious licks'' challenge, which showed students vandalizing school property... But according to an investigation by Anna Foley at the podcast network Gimlet, rumors of the “devious licks” challenge initially spread on Facebook, not TikTok.
In October, Targeted Victory worked to spread rumors of the “Slap a Teacher TikTok challenge” in local news, touting a local news report on the alleged challenge in Hawaii. In reality, no such challenge existed on TikTok. Again, the rumor started on Facebook....
In addition to planting local news stories, the firm has helped place op-eds targeting TikTok around the country, especially in key congressional districts....
Whenever I put up anything from TikTok, I always get some comments generically attacking TikTok. How do I know these comments aren't coming from Targeted Victory? Even if they're not directly from Targeted Victory, I suspect that they have been influenced by the work of Target Victory.
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The ChiComs are winning. I am assuming that there are lessons in Mandarin on that app. Your kids should start studying up.
People are going to generically attack social media. Social media in general is a negative force in people's lives. Especially young people.
I am sure there are astroturfed elements to this. But they are a waste of money. Everyone can see what is happening right now.
Sounds like they are all equivalent dangers. We need musktweet
The thing that makes a firm in Arlington, DC "Republican" is that the WAPO has stupid readers who are thinking in a tribal manner.
Democrats are stupid people.
They need stupid things to get angry about and boy does putting "Republican" in front of something get them mad.
The Wapo is also owned by Amazon. So the perspective of the organization must be considered.
I have news for Facebook, er, Meta. Making TikTok (I can't help but think of ablaut reduplication whenever I see that now) forbidden fruit, something bad, will only endear it to the young. Perhaps Meta has grown too creaky old to remember youth.
I'm sure they exist, and people are aware of them, but has anyone ever seen a PR firm publicly identified as 'aligned with Democrats?'
"...calling TikTok a threat to American children."
(Sigh)
For the last time. It's not a a threat to American children. It's a threat to them when they grow up. The biometric data of tens of millions of those 'children' - around the world - is stored on a giant PLANI server in Fujian (I know...I've seen it) for use when those 'children' become functioning adults, with responsibilities, and possibly placed in high and potentially classified segments of the USA and other governments.
That biometric facial recognition data, along with oodles and boodles of other data, has more uses in the quantum/singularity/avatar style future we're heading for than there are grains of sand on the beach or stars in the sky.
Kids are stupid. They do stupid stuff. Then they grow up and and work at Langley.
"Even if they're not directly from Targeted Victory, I suspect that they have been influenced by the work of Target Victory."
It's always funny to hear people talk about those other dimwits who are manipulated.
Besides it being popular for short format entertainment, the only thing I know about TikTok is "owned by the Beijing-based company ByteDance". Really the first part is enough for me to be disinterested, but the second part on ownership is reinforcing.
As for the significance of "Republican"; well, we now are told anything "Russia" is bad, and progressives want the same to happen to "Republican". They started with "far-right", then "rightwing", then "right leaning", and now it is just "Republican".
These sort of tactics are nothing new in the computer biz. Its called FUD, Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt.
I heard the strangest bit on the Dan Caplis show yesterday. A guy was promoting democrats who are anti-pot. or anti-unlimited-pot.
Then this so called centrist blamed the Koch brothers for their new found libertarian pro-pot legalization push.
Two things sprung to my mind:
things. #1 - the Koch brothers are the go-to blame source for the left.
#2 - there are not Koch brothers anymore - one of them died. There's only on Koch left.
WTF?
Something here. Is this just Facebook leftists trying to smear tiktok?
Why is the firm "Republican"? Because it's the Washington Post in 2022, and unless you're a Critical Race Theorist, who sees everything through the lens of race, you see everything through the lens of politics. So this isn't a company advancing its corporate interests by subsidizing a firm whose philosophy (Tik Tok-type social media is bad for children) aligns with the company's business interests, it's a company acting politically by paying a political operative to engage in politics.
FWIW, "looking out for the well being of our children is a GOP issue" isn't quite the coup de grace the Post might think it is.
Perhaps they couldn't get a Democratic firm to attack a big tech company.
"People are going to generically attack social media. Social media in general is a negative force in people's lives."
What I'm seeing are specific attacks going on about the Chinese government.
My objection to TikTok is the same as my objection to FB and their Instagram app: the purpose of the app is to gather data for the corporation and what people (especially vulnerable tweens and teens) do with the app is the bait for others to join. There is a whole lotta “never trust a commie” gut reaction to the ChiCom-owned app but my inclination is to shun all the privacy-invading apps because they monitor everything your phone or browser is doing. That Zuck considers the CIA to be a partner he’ll freely share data with tends to reinforce my preference to shun them.
This article is notable (as much as Althouse provided) for the dog that ain’t barking: local newsrooms all have “interns” paid by FB to assist in reporting more on “local news of interest” as a way to prop up the dying old news model and partially as reparations for killing off print advertising. Zuck is offsetting his damage to local news by covering some salary cost. They don’t need an agency to influence local news. They’re already writing it for the locals. One suspects the “Republican agency” story is a smokescreen and it sure is drawing attention away from the facts in this post.
Finally--the Key to All Mythologies. Thanks, WaPoo. It is the Republicans that do it.
Edward Casaubon smiles.
You would think that WaPoo would have better things to investigate than commercial wars involving companies that do business with Republicans, but I guess not. Personally, I'd like to see some stories in WaPoo getting to the bottom of Hunter Biden's international business career in China and Ukraine and its importance to the Big Guy, but why would that be of any interest to anyone? I'd start with the question of how Hunter--with his low work ethic and sleezey approach to life--was able to transfer from Georgetown Law to Yale Law School after his first year. I bet it was neither an outstanding LSAT score nor his brilliance as a first year.
I think Althouse would have given Hunter a thorough intellectual workout at Wisconsin Law, and he would not have shown himself to be Yale material.
The corruption starts early if you are a Biden. Anything can happen.
A Democrat PR firm would do the same thing, but it wouldn't sound ominous to WaPo readers. It might not even get reported.
But weren't the Chinese forced to sell TikTok a few years ago?
I quit Facebook because it banned Donald Trump.
For sure, I was not the only person who did so.
How many other people quit Facebook for that same reason?
Mark Zuckerberg knows the approximate number.
If you are in any way involved in PR and haven’t actively condemned Republicans/the right then you are by necessity a Republican. PR firm. To refer to a group as Democratically leaning would simply be redundant.
So is it TikTok’s people alleging that FB hires Rethuglican agents to smear them? Or is this misdirection-info management by FB to frame the story in a way that obscures their Meta motivation?
I avoid all social media except for stuff like this, and will not harbor a smartphone as long as I can live without one.
It would please me a great deal to see FB, Twitter, TikTok et al. devour one another in political, ideological, and corporate conflict.
Add the Republicans, Democrats, Chinese, and Russians to the bonfire too.
Christopher B said...
"I'm sure they exist, and people are aware of them, but has anyone ever seen a PR firm publicly identified as 'aligned with Democrats?' "
Because saying so would be redundant?
"People are going to generically attack social media. Social media in general is a negative force in people's lives."
What I'm seeing are specific attacks going on about the Chinese government.
I see both. But I also know the Chinese government has imposed Social Credit on its population, and it is essentially a system that forces group think. The oddity is most social media platforms are inherently open to various viewpoints, but the people that manage those platforms keep creating rules and guidelines that render the openness moot. That puts people like me in a situation of admiring the tool but having criticism of those that control it, which is often confused as criticism of those using it.
I don't work for Facebook, but TikTok's Chinese ownership is an actual fact. So...a major platform for informing, persuading, denouncing, censoring, or otherwise nudging people toward a mode of thought is owned by the CCP. Yes- there's plenty to laugh about and enjoy on TikTok. That's it's charm. That's what brings you back, Ann, and brings me to your posts filtering out some for us. I truly enjoy those. But if you don't have even the slightest pause at what the CCP are doing around the world then you are simply working hard at not looking. If you don't think it affects you watching funny people do funny things, you may be right. But my belief is that the CCP does nothing that is not a part of The Plan. Unlike the US, the Chinese have a vision.
So I refuse to load the TikTok app. Just as I refuse to play along with Facebook or Twitter. For about the same reasons. If I could decouple from Google and Apple, I would. But as of today, I cannot. And as for Amazon...whoo boy...I'm working on decoupling from them. But they make it soooo easy to keep using them.
Regarding the 'Republican' consulting firm, just for a point of reference, wasn't The Lincoln Project a supposedly Republican consulting firm as well? Well, maybe the label 'Republican' doesn't mean what it used to mean, much like the labels 'Democrat' or 'Liberal'. All of these have changed meanings. The firm in question, Targeted Victory, is clearly in the field of making money on politics. Nothing else. One can call them Republican or Democratic, but above all, they are in it for the money and political ideology is only a selling point, unless it gets in the way, and then it's not.
TikTok is a delightful diversion from China's work in Africa.
'...I suspect that they have been influenced by the work of Target Victory.'
Never heard of that company, and don't have any social media accounts on any platform.
I know TikTok is a Chinese company, that's all I need to know.
That's all anyone with common sense needs to know.
Hah. Now do Democrats, and their Public Relations / Media Machinations. You'll need more than a few columns though.
What makes a consulting firm Republican?
If it takes even one cent from a Republican candidate.
In today's mediaverse you can be either 100% Prog or "Republican".
"Does TikTok have its own firm, getting out the message that Facebook is aligned with Republicans?"
Look in the comments section of this article in the Post for verification.
So I refuse to load the TikTok app. Just as I refuse to play along with Facebook or Twitter. For about the same reasons. If I could decouple from Google and Apple, I would. But as of today, I cannot. And as for Amazon...whoo boy...I'm working on decoupling from them. But they make it soooo easy to keep using them.
+1
How do I know these comments aren't coming from Targeted Victory?
It is the Internet. You don't. Furthermore, social media has allowed seemingly normal people to act like sadists, fanatics, and crazies of their own volition, and therefore are difficult to distinguish from the bots, spies, and paid activists. Good luck!
To reiterate Temujin, when it comes to consulting firms these are mercenary organizations first and foremost. Maybe some of them are true believers in the cause, but as we have seen over the past decade quite a few of the champions of the right were grifters. Given the lackluster efforts some of these organizations have provided over the years, they are closer to neutral that happens to work for whomever they can convince to pay them for their mediocrity. It is just that being neutral in the current climate is not good for business, so you have to brand. If you want to find some with a true passion for a cause, a good portion of those organizations are essentially funnel organizations to convert campaign contributions into salaries for family members, a task they accomplish with great gusto.
Tik Tok is hammering Facebook. Young people prefer Tik Tok over Facebook. That is what this is all about.
its a nest of mittens minions
https://targetedvictory.com/team/
Zuckerfuck is a Trump enabling douchebag. Everyone knows it. Brexit was his quinceañera.
Why believe a word the Washington Post ever prints again after this?? https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1509189563591401480?
“I know TikTok is a Chinese company, that's all I need to know.
That's all anyone with common sense needs to know.”
ChiCom, Inc. These people are not/have never been/will never be trusted allies. Wake the fuck up, western world!
related:
Glenn Greenwald
@ggreenwald
"You have to give the US corporate media credit where it's due: they are 100% correct that the US faces a *grave* problem of disinformation.
But as this great video shows -- by @0rf
for @mtaibbi
-- they're wrong about the source. It doesn't come from FB or QAnon but themselves."
speaking of American propaganda
If you're one of those people who believe that because you're lucky enough to live in the US or the West generally, it means you don't live within a suffocating propaganda system - there's a free press! - just watch this 2nd part of @0rf
's video and it should clear that right up.
How many commenters on this blog are paid to "get out the message"?
Can we tell which ones? What are the indicia of being a hired "message-getter-outer"?
I would guess that the most likely are posters with new or little-used handles that suddenly appear with well-crafted posts are the strongest indicator.
and will not harbor a smartphone as long as I can live without one
I have to have a smartphone to work at the UW-Madison. It's the only way I can become superuser on my unix machines. Multi-Factor Authorization because people are idiots.
"Multi-Factor Authorization because people are idiots."
Oh hayle yes! If I hadn't retired in '15 I'd be required to have a smartphone just to do my campus job now.
"What makes a consulting firm Republican?"
Because the left called it so.
Howard said...
"Zuckerfuck is a Trump enabling douchebag. Everyone knows it. Brexit was his quinceañera."
Oh , for f*cks sake that's funny. You just keep shooting yourself in the dick, don't you.
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