Deceptive 'bait-and-switch' Facebook groups lure US voters: study

WASHINGTON: Dozens of Facebook groups describe themselves as Kamala Harris fan pages, but they launch racist attacks, criticize her immigration policies and promote her rival Donald Trump's close race in the US election.

The Washington-based American Sunlight Project analyzed over 300 groups on the Meta-owned platform that pose as pro-Harris pages while misleading the Democratic nominee's supporters with offensive, hateful posts or exploiting her popularity to promote to advertise goods.

The proliferation of such Facebook groups, which typically bring together communities with shared interests, does not appear to be an organized effort and illustrates a sophisticated tactic to spread false election narratives in trusted online spaces.

“These tend to be places where there is a high level of trust between members, which increases the likelihood that they will believe what is being shared there, be it election disinformation, magic bullets or memes,” says Nina Jankowicz, co-founder and executive director of ASP, said AFP.

The bait-and-switch tactic appears to target actors across the political spectrum, including Trump.

But Jankowicz, the former Department of Homeland Security disinformation chief, said her research team had noticed an “explosion” of such groups focused on Harris since she entered the presidential primary over the summer.

One group claims to be a space for “Kamala Harris fans,” but the “About” section celebrates her as a “trailblazer, symbol of diversity, and advocate for justice and equality.”

But within the group, posts attempt to undermine Harris, including one with a photo of a brown woman smearing her face with black paint and the caption: “Kamala prepares to speak to black people.”

The post echoed Trump's false claim that Harris had “gone black” and that she was exploiting her race to woo African-American voters.

Harris is the first Black, South Asian and female vice president in US history.