Ahead of the election, anti-government militias are using Facebook to recruit, coordinate training, and promote ballot box stakeouts. Meta isn’t shutting their groups down and is even auto-generating pages.

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But WIRED reviewed posts from American Patriots Three Percent (AP3) groups and profiles that are still on the platform, including examples where members and leaders brandish AP3 insignia and share photos from their in-person training sessions.

There have also been some recent instances where Facebook has even auto-generated pages for militias. In May, Facebook auto-generated a page for AP3’s Arizona chapter. In June, Facebook auto-generated a page for “AP3 NM [New Mexico] Training Range.” If you hover over the information widget on the page, Facebook’s explainer reads: “This unofficial page was created because people on Facebook have shown interest in this place or business. It’s not affiliated with or endorsed by anyone associated with AP3 Training Range.” (Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has repeatedly come under fire in the past for auto-generating pages for extremist, white supremacist, and terrorist organizations; a whistleblower first flagged the issue in 2020 in a supplement to an earlier petition filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.)

  • blindsight@beehaw.org
    13·
    2 months ago

    The ultra-wealthy are terrified of reprisal from Trump. And they control the media (Bezos/WP) and social media (Zuck).

    Democracy in America may fail next week. Terrifying to watch.

    • flashgnash@lemm.ee
      2·
      2 months ago

      What is the actual evidence trump wants to end democracy? I’ve only seen an out of context clip so far

      • blindsight@beehaw.org
        1·
        2 months ago

        Project 2025 matches most of his campaign promises and is written largely by former Trump administration staffers.

        • dontgooglefinderscult@lemmings.world
          1·
          2 months ago

          Project 2025 is no different from the standard Republican policy points for the last hundred years. Dems cheered on and helped try to accomplish the new American century, there’s no reason to think project 2025 will also be watered down to be bipartisan like the policy lists before it.

          • blindsight@beehaw.org
            1·
            2 months ago

            Project 2025 includes a detailed plan about how to dismantle the entire Federal government and replace thousands of government managers with alt-right extremists.

            • dontgooglefinderscult@lemmings.world
              1·
              2 months ago

              Cool, every part of the government for longer than you’ve been alive has already been doing right wing loyalty tests to all positions. This plan isn’t new, it’s not particularly detailed. I mean the FBI specifically was formed to enforce right wing ideology amongst government workers (and the public at large.)