General Assembly Candidate’s Facebook Page Filled with Fake, Russian Accounts
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Legitimate followers? Anthony Defilippo's Facebook page raises comparisons to failed candidate Anthony Gemma's spike in social media followers in 2012.
Anthony Defilippo announced his candidacy for District 13 in Providence on Facebook on June 21, garnering over 270 likes on his status — at least half of whom were fake profiles, according to a GoLocalProv.com investigation.
A review of Defilippo’s Facebook page found status likes and comments by individuals with questionable profiles not from the United States, including a high number of Russian names, similar accounts sharing the same viral videos, and accounts with no photos or information -- at all.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"I handle all the social media myself, I do have people helping out with page," said Defilippo on Monday. Defelippo said he was unaware of the accounts that "liked" his campaign updates that were from Russia or had no photos or information, which accounted for over half of his "likes" at his campaign kick-off.
Multi-Candidate Race
The host of “The Anthony Show” and Roger Williams University student is running in a multi-candidate primary for incumbent Representative John Carnevale's seat, who is under investigation by the Rhode Island Board of Canvassers regarding his residency after Republican Party Chair Brandon Bell filed a complaint, following a WPRI investigation.
Joshua Jay Beeman, David Marshall, Ramon Perez, and Lisa Scorpio had originally declared as District 13 challengers; the Providence Board of Canvassers along with the Secretary of State is verifying signatures for all races, which were due on Friday July 15. See Qualified Candidates HERE
RI’s Social Media Glare
Defilippo's announcement was "liked" by over one hundred fake accounts, with no profile photos or information.
In 2012, Rhode Island Congressional candidate Anthony Gemma’s rapid Twitter follower accumulation was questioned in a Politico piece by Steve Friess.
Gemma now has more than 519,000 Facebook fans —10 times more fans than the number of votes he received in his 2010 primary loss to Cicilline. It’s a seat Patrick Kennedy held for eight terms in a heavily Democratic area, and this time Gemma has a better shot because Cicilline’s approval ratings are spectacularly low.
But the small-town plumbing executive and self-described “social media guru” declined through his campaign staff to explain how he accumulated so many social media followers so fast. “The campaign does not comment on our social media strategy,” campaign spokesman Alex Morash said in an email.
Other candidates recently have been caught up in allegations that their campaigns were buying Twitter followers, including Romney and Newt Gingrich. That’s relatively easy to do online, costs only pennies apiece and is not illegal — only in violation of Facebook and Twitter terms of service. But an oversized social footprint that suggests mass appeal can be embarrassing for a campaign should it be revealed.
"If a candidate abuses the appropriate channels to gin up their followings, they risk hurting their reputation as a grass-roots candidate," said Amy Brown, a digital campaign strategist with Harris Media LLC who has worked with several national candidates.
Cicilline won the 2012 Democratic primary for the First Congressional District with 62% of the vote; Gemma got 30.2%.
Related Slideshow: Races to Watch in 2016 - RI Progressive Democrats
Sam Bell, State Director for the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats, ran through a list of races to watch at the GA in 2016. Bell noted that as of June 1, Progressive Dems had yet to make endorsements. "This is just my take and analysis of these races," said Bell.
Bell noted other races as well that weren't on the list.
"Julie Casimiro, because of her positions on certain labor issues and some of her past work on education, but we view her as a real Democrat, we are certainly cheering her on, and some of our members may well help her out," said Bell, who noted it was similar for another Democrat. "Same for Lisa Tomasso, we certainly feel she is the much preferable candidate (to Republican Sherry) Roberts."
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