Ex-Trump aide Bannon promoted 'culture war': Cambridge Analytica whistleblower

By Mark Hosenball

 

Christopher Wylie, former Cambridge Analytica research director, testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled, "Cambridge Analytica and the Future of Data Privacy" on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 16, 2018. REUTERS/Al Drago

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's former aide Steve Bannon sought to use personal information collected online to promote "a culture war," a whistleblower on now-defunct political data firm Cambridge Analytica told U.S. senators on Wednesday.

 

Bannon, a former Cambridge Analytica vice president, "saw cultural warfare as a means to create enduring change in American politics," testified Christopher Wylie, who says information about tens of millions of Facebook <FB.O> users ended up in Cambridge Analytica's hands.

 

Bannon's attorney William Burck did not immediately respond to an email request for comment on Wylie's testimony.

 

Wylie, who worked for SCL, the British-based parent of Cambridge Analytica, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Cambridge Analytica hired hackers to collect data it then used against opponents of its political clients.

 

Allegations of the improper use of data for 87 million Facebook users by Cambridge Analytica, which was hired by Trump's 2016 election campaign, have led to investigations in the United States and Europe.

 

Bannon worked on Trump's campaign and became a White House aide when Trump took office in January 2017. Bannon left in August 2017.

 

Wylie, who has provided reports about how the firm used data Facebook collected, on Wednesday described discussions at the company about suppressing the vote, exploiting racial tensions, and testing campaign slogans in 2014 for use in the 2016 election.

 

"One of the things that did provoke me to leave was the beginnings of discussions of voter disengagement, I have seen documents reference and I recall conversations that it was intended to focus on African-American voters," Wylie said.

 

"The company learned that there were segments of the population that responded to messages like 'drain the swamp' or images of border walls or indeed paranoia about the 'deep state' that weren't necessarily reflected in mainstream polling or mainstream political discourse that Steve Bannon was interested in to help build his movement," Wylie said.

 

Another witness who testified to the judiciary committee, Tufts University associate professor Eitan Hersh, said he was "skeptical" of the effectiveness that such political messaging and targeting. "No person is persuadable all the time," he said.

 

As part of an investigation into U.S. allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, Special Counsel Robert Mueller is looking into how Russian intelligence agencies timed and targeted emails hacked from Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and others. The Kremlin denies interfering in the U.S. election.

 

(Reporting by Mark Hosenball; Editing by John Walcott and Grant McCool)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-05-17

57 minutes ago, webfact said:

"The company learned that there were segments of the population that responded to messages like 'drain the swamp' or images of border walls or indeed paranoia about the 'deep state' that weren't necessarily reflected in mainstream polling or mainstream political discourse that Steve Bannon was interested in to help build his movement," Wylie said.

 The birth of "The Deplorable's" 

Bannon was the only member of Trump's entourage (to this day) who actually had a brain....

That's it?

Sounds like the back room of an advertising agency to me coming up with ideas for appealing to voters based on data from Facebook, etc.  I thought all campaigns targeted various groups.  Certainly ads sent to black parts of Chicago might differ from ads sent to white suburbia.  All one had to do was listen to an Obama speech given to African Americans vs. one given to a group of white bankers.  This isn't anything new. It has just become more sophisticated.

1 hour ago, lannarebirth said:

That's it?

You of course know there’s more to this.

 

 

27 minutes ago, Trouble said:

Sounds like the back room of an advertising agency to me coming up with ideas for appealing to voters based on data from Facebook, etc.  I thought all campaigns targeted various groups.  Certainly ads sent to black parts of Chicago might differ from ads sent to white suburbia.  All one had to do was listen to an Obama speech given to African Americans vs. one given to a group of white bankers.  This isn't anything new. It has just become more sophisticated.

They do, but they don’t all conspire with foreign governments to corrupt the US electoral process.

Just now, Chomper Higgot said:

You of course know there’s more to this.

 

 

I'm just responding to the article as presented. Marketers targeting an ad campaign to those they feel are most susceptible to being swayed by it. That's certainly nothing new in advertising/marketing or even politically oriented advertising/marketing. I hate it personally, whether it is an effort to get me to change my auto insurer or vote for a given candidate. I find it very intrusive and either hang up or make a note NOT to use the product of the company/campaign that is spamming me.

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

They do, but they don’t all conspire with foreign governments to corrupt the US electoral process.

 

Like the CIA do when corrupting other peoples elections you mean?

2 hours ago, Trouble said:

Sounds like the back room of an advertising agency to me coming up with ideas for appealing to voters based on data from Facebook, etc.  I thought all campaigns targeted various groups.  Certainly ads sent to black parts of Chicago might differ from ads sent to white suburbia.  All one had to do was listen to an Obama speech given to African Americans vs. one given to a group of white bankers.  This isn't anything new. It has just become more sophisticated.

It's a grey zone but it's a bit different when you get to using advertising for things like preventing black people from turning up to vote.  I used to work in marketing consulting for a global conulting firm and we could refuse to work on projects that we found morally objectionable.  I once refused a project for the clothing line of a cigarette company.  I know another case about a guy stepping off a pharmaceutical case when he found out his drug was both less effective and with worse side effects.  

4 hours ago, blazes said:

Bannon was the only member of Trump's entourage (to this day) who actually had a brain....

A diseased  brain at that.

Bannon is ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence) and like Page & Bob Woodward before him who were also ONI, and also ran the same palace coup on Nixon. Only problem this time round is they are dealing with a high IQ, 4d chess player called Trump.

 

 

Edited May 17, 20188 yr by Chopperboy

3 minutes ago, Chopperboy said:

Bannon is ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence) and like Page & Bob Woodward before him also ONI, and also ran the same palace coup on Nixon. Only problem this time round is they are dealing with a high IQ, 4d chess player called Trump.

 

 

Can somebody please translate?

Bannon is the goebbels to trump's hitler

7 hours ago, Trouble said:

Sounds like the back room of an advertising agency to me coming up with ideas for appealing to voters based on data from Facebook, etc.  I thought all campaigns targeted various groups.  Certainly ads sent to black parts of Chicago might differ from ads sent to white suburbia.  All one had to do was listen to an Obama speech given to African Americans vs. one given to a group of white bankers.  This isn't anything new. It has just become more sophisticated.

This wasn't about group targeting. It was about using Artificial Intelligence to profile and target people individually, emotionally and lies based on the person's perceptions harvested from FB, that they become hypnotized by their prejudices being fed by the internet bots.

45 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Can somebody please translate?

MAWA!!!

12 hours ago, Trouble said:

All one had to do was listen to an Obama speech given to African Americans vs. one given to a group of white bankers.  This isn't anything new. It has just become more sophisticated.

What's new is it's the Russians passing themselves off as Americans spouting propaganda to divide or drive off potential pro-Clinton voters and promote Trump. Using stolen stolen social media data to pinpoint even down to individual family members. That's much more than just being more sophisticated. That's a far cry from Obama giving speeches tailored to specific audiences.

10 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Like the CIA do when corrupting other peoples elections you mean?

Authoritarian at heart.   Cute 

1 hour ago, Srikcir said:

What's new is it's the Russians passing themselves off as Americans spouting propaganda to divide or drive off potential pro-Clinton voters and promote Trump. Using stolen stolen social media data to pinpoint even down to individual family members. That's much more than just being more sophisticated. That's a far cry from Obama giving speeches tailored to specific audiences.

You may have forgotten the absolute co-operation, nay deference, of Trump and his cult.

3 hours ago, Srikcir said:

What's new is it's the Russians passing themselves off as Americans spouting propaganda to divide or drive off potential pro-Clinton voters and promote Trump. Using stolen stolen social media data to pinpoint even down to individual family members. That's much more than just being more sophisticated. That's a far cry from Obama giving speeches tailored to specific audiences.

I'm curious. On which issues were Russians trying to influence Americans? Can you give specifics?

I'm not aware of this so maybe it's a blind spot of mine.

Bannon promoted 'culture war'

 

Bannon promoted a fecal culture

 

 

53 minutes ago, underlordcthulhu said:

I'm curious. On which issues were Russians trying to influence Americans? Can you give specifics?

I'm not aware of this so maybe it's a blind spot of mine.

On the issue of who should become the next president of the US.

If you haven't grasped that by now there's no hope for you.

 

PS. Is that Kanye West wearing a Chinese made cap you use as an avatar?

 

 

1 minute ago, Becker said:

On the issue of who should become the next president of the US.

If you haven't grasped that by now there's no hope for you.

 

PS. Is that Kanye West wearing a Chinese made cap you use as an avatar?

 

 

That doesn't answer the question I asked one bit.

Hopefully someone can provide me with a real answer. I'm genuinely curious.

I'm not sure about Kanye's hat. The one I bought wasn't a knockoff, it was a more expensive American made one along with the flag hanging on my wall.

5 hours ago, underlordcthulhu said:

I'm curious. On which issues were Russians trying to influence Americans? Can you give specifics?

I'm not aware of this so maybe it's a blind spot of mine.

Just one of many - Senate Intelligence Committee.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/16/russian-meddling-intended-to-help-trump-hurt-clinton-senate-says.html

3 minutes ago, simple1 said:

Just one of many - Senate Intelligence Committee.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/16/russian-meddling-intended-to-help-trump-hurt-clinton-senate-says.html

Thanks. I read the article in the link.

It still doesn't explain what was done to persuade Americans and on which issues.

 

"The Russian effort was extensive, sophisticated, and ordered by President [Vladimir] Putin himself for the purpose of helping Donald Trump and hurting Hillary Clinton."

 

What did this effort consist of? Exactly what about the Russian effort drove millions to the voting booths to vote Trump?

7 minutes ago, underlordcthulhu said:

Thanks. I read the article in the link.

It still doesn't explain what was done to persuade Americans and on which issues.

 

"The Russian effort was extensive, sophisticated, and ordered by President [Vladimir] Putin himself for the purpose of helping Donald Trump and hurting Hillary Clinton."

 

What did this effort consist of? Exactly what about the Russian effort drove millions to the voting booths to vote Trump?

Don't believe there has been claims made the Russian efforts drove 'millions' to the voting booths, the jury is still out on actual outcomes of Russian interference. More to the point is a foreign power's proven  attempts to interfere and influence US and other Western democracies elections.

 

There has been plenty of media coverage on briefings received by government agencies regards the nature of and technology deployed by Russia, look it up - stop deflecting.

Edited May 17, 20188 yr by simple1

4 minutes ago, simple1 said:

Don't believe there has been claims made the Russian efforts drove 'millions' to the voting booths, the jury is still out on actual outcomes of Russian interference. More to the point is a foreign power's proven  attempts to interfere and influence US and other Western democracies elections.

 

There has been plenty of media coverage on briefings received by government agencies regards the nature of and technology deployed by Russia, look it up - stop deflecting.

It's you all who are deflecting.

I'm asking simple questions. If you don't have the answers, don't reply it only makes you look bad when you come up empty handed.

11 minutes ago, underlordcthulhu said:

It's you all who are deflecting.

I'm asking simple questions. If you don't have the answers, don't reply it only makes you look bad when you come up empty handed.

Troll

5 minutes ago, simple1 said:

Troll

I sincerely just want answers from people but ok.

Edited May 17, 20188 yr by underlordcthulhu

It's been answered.   If you don't like the answer, then move on.