VoteAlert's primarily text-based data provides minimal evidence to support its claims of alleged election inconsistencies, and the site's major reports concern swing states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
"Yahoo Boys" is a term for online scammers involved in many fraud schemes (often originating from Nigeria and West African countries).
Researchers have identified Yahoo groups on Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok, and Telegram, some of which have tens of thousands of members. (thread)
Some concerning trends among these groups:
-Groups use sexploitation schemes that frequently target younger victims
-They operate cross-platform, making activity difficult to track
-Much of this illegal activity is discussed openly in public forums
More pointedly, Michigan officials Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson were frequent subjects of misogynistic comments and threats.
Read our full investigation below:
https://t.co/Y8nFgQ5LMQ
In the 2020 presidential election, Michigan's margin of votes was less than 155,000 (2.85%).
As a critical swing state in 2024, it has recently been a hotbed for election misinformation, which Open Measures set out to investigate (thread).
On Truth Social and Rumble, researchers noticed a few themes:
-General election misinformation related to mail-in ballots and alleged voter fraud
-Islamophobic claims that Muslims are defrauding the election process
-Narratives targeting female government officials
Open Measures previously released nearly two million posts from the alt-tech network Scored, related to the January 6, 2024 attack on the Capitol.
But what is Scored?
In the last two months, our researchers delved into Project 2025, the Trump assassination attempt, and white supremacist "Active Clubs" on Telegram.
In case you missed it, here's what Open Measures' researchers got up to in July and August (thread):
Finally, our researchers found that white supremacist "Active Clubs" have been gaining popularity worldwide.
They have been particularly active on Telegram, with groups in Lithuania, France, and certain US locations among the most active.
https://t.co/VEgVXMnuF9
Since Open Measures' research in April 2024, Project 2025 has been increasingly in the media spotlight. In light of this, our researchers revisited Project 2025 and found that online sentiments about it had changed significantly. Read more below:
https://t.co/aBn4RQBzgO
On July 13, 2024, there was an attempt on Donald Trump’s life at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. In the days since, a variety of conspiracy theories have emerged on alt-tech platforms like Truth Social, Gab, and Rumble about the event.
Read more below:
https://t.co/YjzGAlWkW6