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Twitter should suspend NRSC twitter privileges

By Kari Chisholm:

There's a controversy brewing. The National Republican Senatorial Committee sent out the following tweet:

NRSC fake retweet

Of course, that isn't a legit tweet from @BarackObama. In essence, they've faked up a quote from the President of the United States and passed it off as if it were real.

The link takes people to a completely blank page. But the domain name was registered by the NRSC - and if you go there, you'll get tagged for future ads from the NRSC.

In other words, this was a deliberate plan - not an accident or little stunt by some social media intern.

It's crystal clear what should happen next. Twitter should suspend the NRSC's account on Twitter. Their rules are clear:

Impersonation: You may not impersonate others through the Twitter service in a manner that does or is intended to mislead, confuse, or deceive others

That's precisely what they've done -- and they've done it to the President of the United States; they've done it as a deliberate strategy; and they've done in order to market their organization to unwitting recipients of the tweet.

Here's what you can do: Join the Act.ly campaign calling on Twitter to suspend the NRSC from their system. Just tweet it!

(Hat tip to Baratunde Thurston)

Posted by Kari Chisholm on June 22, 2011 in GOPWatch, legal stuff, twitter | See full archives

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