The National Republican Campaign Committee has created fake news sites about House candidates, presumably to take advantage of readers who don’t pay close attention to what news sources they read, National Journal reported.
Earlier this year, the NRCC got in some trouble for creating deceptive fake campaign sites for Democrats that ask people to contribute in order to help “defeat” the candidate.
According to National Journal, the NRCC is promoting more than 20 of these websites using google search ads. So when people search for candidates in for their district, these fake articles pop up.
The stories appear on election2014update.com, and have site names like “Central Valley Update.” The fake new sites begin stories by explaining that they will analyze the candidate’s position but take a critical tone.
At the bottom of each story, the NRCC discloses that the site is paid for by the committee. Communications director Andrea Bozek told National Journal that it was a “new and effective way to disseminate information to voters.”
When DCCC spokesman Josh Schwerin bashed the approach as “deception,” Bozek responded that Democrats are “just jealous.”
The sites don’t appear to violate campaign finance laws.
