The Kamala Harris campaign has been caught orchestrating a behind-the-scenes effort to manipulate social media platforms, including X, to stifle dissenting voices. Operating through a strategically organized Discord server, the Harris team has coordinated its volunteers and paid operatives to flood platforms with content and, more importantly, suppress any criticism or alternate viewpoints.
According to a two-part report from The Federalist, the campaign’s activity includes the promotion of pro-Harris messages to simulate a groundswell of enthusiasm while encouraging supporters to target and downvote corrective notes added by X’s Community Notes feature. This tool, introduced by Elon Musk to foster transparency on X, allows users to flag misleading posts and add context to dubious claims. Musk’s acquisition of the platform was aimed at creating a more balanced environment, moving away from Twitter’s previous management that frequently drew criticism for silencing viewpoints.
The Harris-Walz campaign, however, appears bent on undermining this system, directing volunteers to block any Community Notes that challenge their narratives, regardless of the notes’ accuracy. On Discord, paid Democratic staff members instruct supporters to artificially elevate pro-campaign notes while downvoting corrective ones. These actions, according to some involved, are part of a broader strategy to manipulate X’s visibility algorithm.
This activity is not confined to X. Yesterday, reports highlighted that the campaign has also been successful in skewing Reddit’s algorithm. But X, given its political influence, has been a primary target. In one instance, a tweet from the campaign falsely quoted Trump, leading volunteers to downvote a Community Note that clarified the context of Trump’s statement, causing it to be suppressed.
Harris’ posts remain largely untouched by X’s Community Notes due to these mass downvoting campaigns to suppress criticism.
Discord discussions further reveal a campaign-led effort to “train” supporters on how to increase their Community Notes “Rating Impact,” enabling them to create notes themselves and upvote them to prominence. This carefully orchestrated strategy extends to other platforms like TikTok and Instagram, though their design limits political virality compared to Reddit and X.
While rallying support and organizing digital outreach have become standard tactics in modern political campaigns, the strategic suppression of criticism through coordinated mass reporting, down-ranking, and flagging represents a shift with significant implications. Astroturfing—manufacturing the appearance of grassroots support—is commonly used to amplify a candidate’s visibility and sway public opinion. However, when campaigns direct their supporters to actively suppress dissenting voices, discredit community note mechanisms, or downvote corrective measures, it veers from advocacy into the territory of censorship. This tactic not only undermines the transparency and credibility of social media platforms but also risks eroding public trust in the authenticity of online discourse, blurring the line between legitimate campaigning and manipulation of the public conversation.
Elon Musk says that X is investigating the findings.
Read the full report at The Federalist here.
