HOPKINTON — Controversy over an elected official’s use of multiple pseudonyms to criticize political opponents and stoke divisive rhetoric has highlighted a problem in local politics and social media, political pundits and talk hosts say community
On June 5, the online news site HopNews reported that Darlene Hayes, president of the Hopkinton Democratic Town Committeeas well as an elected member of the Hopkinton Housing Authority Board of Commissionershe had used more than 20 different pseudonyms while posting in the comments section of the website — with most of the commentary critical of his local political opponents.
“Darlene Hayes’ behavior is no different than the behavior of the Russian Twitter bot in the federal election during the 2016 election,” said Peter Thomas, publisher and editor-in-chief of HopNews. “It was essentially a coordinated campaign to create disinformation and spread that disinformation.”
According to Thomas, Hayes used different accounts to comment and spread information — some of which were later determined to be inaccurate — on political opponents, especially during the final weeks of the May local election season.
Multiple accounts used to criticize political rival
Hayes, using multiple accounts, posted disparaging comments about School Committee candidate Ashley Fogg, who was running as an independent, while supporting Democratic candidates Adam Munroe and Susan Stephenson. Hayes made similar comments, under the same pseudonyms, about the Hopkinton Independentanother post covering the community.
In a report made by HopNewsa poster with the name “Noel Centino” — later decided to be Hayes — responded to an op-ed titled “No Place for Bullying in Hopkinton,” written by Fogg:
“Ashley Fogg, you offered private meetings without open transparency to the questions asked. People wanted your voice to be heard, in a transparently open forum and not behind closed doors. You avoided direct questions from concerned citizens, public officials need to be an open book and accountable. to the questions asked, which are in no way harassment, but parents are very concerned. Vote for Munroe and Stephenson, they have experience, invest in education and have attended school committee meetings in person (if you’re just watching HCAM at your leisure this year, which is what Fogg said at the women’s club event, it’s not a very acquired approach) or attended town meeting that both Munroe and Stephenson did, both asked questions especially about the vital budget needs for schools that are being addressed. Hopkinton needs to come together and vote. for Adam Munroe and Susan Stephenson.”
In the same comment section, Hayes was found to have made several posts under different names, with similar statements about Fogg, giving the impression that there were many people who held similar views.
“Fogg spent time voicing her grievances at school committee meetings against masking, was treated with respect and was given time to voice her concerns,” Hayes wrote, under the screen name “Kim M.” “She is not willing to answer direct questions, she wants to do it behind closed doors and that cannot be tolerated, the candidates who throw their hat in these volunteer positions are also responsible for the public’s input. Say it crying foul of transparency or call him a candidate. who hides a personal agenda like wanting to ban books and are anti-pride flags supporting our LBGTQ+ residents, which includes marginalized student populations who need our support.”
HopNews reported that it determined all the accounts belonged to Hayes when those accounts were connected to the same IP address that Hayes had used.
Hayes apologizes and resigns from all elected office
Hayes issued a public apology on June 12 for her conduct and has since resigned her position as chairwoman of the Hopkinton Democratic Town Committee, as well as all elected positions in the town.
He did not respond to requests for comment from the Daily News.
In the May 15 annual municipal election, Democrats Munroe and Stephenson won the two available seats on the Hopkinton School Committee, garnering 998 and 934 votes, respectively; Fogg, who is not enrolled, received 616.
Hopkinton is one of less than a dozen communities in Massachusetts that have partisan elections for municipal office. Democratic and Republican town committees therefore play an active role in nominating and supporting candidates.
Hayes’ actions have led to a discussion about the value of public comments made online — whether they are on a news site, Facebook, Twitter or other forms of social media — and its reliability. Thomas said comments provide a valuable space for people who are invested in the news to share their opinions, but those opinions can be portrayed in a false or misleading way.
“I don’t begrudge anyone who wants to defend their candidate,” he said. “On the other hand, to do it in such a way that it looks like there is a symphony of voices sharing the same opinion is false. The value of having a forum for people to discuss this is that this is the place where the people. issues that matter because people want to read the news and it gives people an opportunity to have a meaningful dialogue.”
The use of anonymous accounts that hide identities has not been limited to Hopkinton. Last month in Framingham, there was concern among elected officials when resident Justin Kapust was named an alternate member of the city’s Agricultural Advisory Committee. Kapust is the founder of Framingham Unfiltered, a website that allows users to submit anonymous content that is often critical of city officials, and that has included racist and homophobic material.
Before:Should the founder of Framingham Unfiltered serve on the city council? Its approval provokes debate
State Rep. James Arena-DeRosa, D-Holliston, whose district includes Hopkinton, issued the following statement about the controversy.
“It’s an unfortunate and disappointing situation – we all hope, regardless of our politics — “I can commit in the next political cycle of 2024 to focus on positive campaigns, public policy differences and candidate experiences,” Arena-DeRosa said. “I had the opportunity to meet all of the Hopkinton School Committee candidates and indicated that I would like to work with all of them either as newly elected officials or in their roles as valued community volunteers. Wherever they go Hopkinton and the media from here with local online tracking is beyond my scope, but I would like to point out that there are many people on the Hopkinton Democratic Town Committee who have served the town for years, value deeply in their community and have helped make Hopkinton a great place to live.”
The controversy damages trust in public debate
Christopher McCarthy-Latimer, professor of political science at Framingham State Universityhe said social media has become an important aspect of any election campaign and the biggest campaigns are spending millions trying to get an edge by posting online.
“In general, social media has had a massive impact on political campaigning and has become much more mainstream,” McCarthy-Latimer said. “Now, especially the Trump and Biden administrations, they spend millions and millions of dollars on social media because they know their messages will get out, right or wrong.”
McCarthy-Latimer said the veracity of information posted online has become a major concern in the political arena. — with campaigns voluntarily encouraging “anonymous” accounts to push foreign narratives and influences from countries like Russia and China getting involved in pushing information that serves their political interests.
“Whether the messages are right or wrong or not, it’s hard to determine whether they’re coming from people in a particular campaign, people outside the campaign, and we know that countries like China and Russia have been getting into social media like Facebook. Twitter, Instagram and purposefully providing false information to influence the outcome of an election, and they have been successful to some extent in doing so,” McCarthy-Latimer said.
While at the federal level millions of dollars are being spent on social media campaigns, in smaller communities, such as an individual community like Hopkinton or Framingham, the impact that one engaged person can have in terms of spamming information is bigger With only 1,473 ballots cast in the most recent Hopkinton election, it is impossible to determine the impact an individual may have had by posting multiple pseudonyms.
“It is easier in a local election, if an individual is able to create several accounts and talk about someone or something that is not true, and this information can spread to other social media and can have an impact McCarthy said. said Latimer. “It’s hard to measure the impact, because many people won’t admit that they received or obtained their information from the Internet, or (from) someone lying about their identity, but it could influence who they support and who they vote for. “.
McCarthy-Latimer said similar behavior is likely to occur across the country, and at the local level it may be more difficult to determine the truth behind claims and statements, because there are fewer sites of record that will investigate the veracity of any information that is presented
“I think you should probably ask a candidate directly if something is true or not to determine if a claim being made against them is accurate,” McCarthy-Latimer said.
Despite the challenges posed by anonymous content, Thomas said if a site allows comments, it will must allow anonymity, because there is no firm way for a platform to guarantee that a user is going under their real identity. She added that posting through a screen name can allow for more honest discussion, especially about local issues.
“People want to say things, but they don’t want to stand on the sidelines at the grocery store — that’s what happens in a small town,” he said. “If you take a politically unpopular position, people will treat you and your children differently. In this sense, people are afraid, they have been afraid to say what they really feel. Somehow the group thinks it stifles democracy in a small town, and having a forum where people can say what they really feel without fear of retribution changes that.”
