Project Birmingham

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Project Birmingham was the name of a small-scale social media experiment conducted during the 2017 U.S. Senate special election to determine the extent to which tactics ascribed to Russian state-backed operatives in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election could affect voter behavior.

The special election was scheduled for Tuesday, December 12 in order to fill the seat left vacant by Jeff Sessions' appointment as Attorney General of the United States. Former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama Doug Jones won the close election as a Democrat, enjoying a boost in turnout credited to effective organizing efforts, and to damaging accusations that his opponent, former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice Roy Moore, had engaged in sexual assault and misconduct with minors during his years as an Assistant District Attorney in Etowah County.

Social media researcher Jonathon Morgan admitted in late 2018 that during the special election he mimicked some of the tactics his firm, New Knowledge, had documented as having been used by Russian agents during the 2016 presidential campaign. He created a "Conservative" Facebook page supporting Mac Watson's write-in candidacy under false pretenses, and purchased less than $10 of retweets on Twitter, amplifying reports that a large number of Russian "bots" were tweeting on behalf of Moore.

After Morgan publicized the work, which he characterized as research and said was not intended to have a real influence in the election, Jones issued statements of anger about the deception and Facebook suspended his personal account. LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman apologized for his having funded American Engagement Technologies, which conducted the experiment.

References

  • "Social media researcher admits to questionable tactics in 2017 Alabama Senate race." (December 18, 2018) The Washington Post/al.com
  • "Facebook suspends account of researcher who meddled in 2017 Alabama Senate race." (December 22, 2018) The Washington Post/al.com
  • Romm, Tony; Craig Timberg and Aaron C. Davis (December 26, 2018) "Billionaire Reid Hoffman apologizes for disinformation in Alabama senate race." The Washington Post/al.com
  • "Democrats distance themselves from Russian-inspired tactics used in Alabama Senate race." (January 6, 2019) The Washington Post/al.com
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