this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2024
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Wohl and Burkman were sentenced to community service.
The charge they pled guilty to was fraud; that they "falsely claimed that mail-in voting would put voters into a database that would be used to collect outstanding debt, track down warrants or enforce mandatory vaccinations." It doesn't matter what the outcome was (intimidation or something else), the fraud was the crime.
Fox is a slightly different case, as they're technically press and thus have a first amendment protection that automatically makes any case against them harder. But either way, the lack of prosecution is far from evidence that a crime was not committed.
I already identified exactly which law Musk is breaking and with what action. 52 USC 20511 and 52 USC 30101, if you find it particularly important.
They were also fined 2,500 USD each.
The case against them that most relates to what you're talking about is in Michigan. They're charged in accordance to a Michigan statute that bans deterring voters through "corrupt means or device", referring specifically to disinformation that the two individuals specifically engaged in and their stated goals. That's a world of difference from having a social media platform whose policies cultivate a userbase that seeks to get out the vote for a candidate and whose owner uses as a platform to advocate for that candidate. The case is actually going to the supreme court because the statute may be overly-broad.
You haven't provided any evidence or compelling argument that what they or Musk do falls outside of 1A protection. It seems to me that you're implying that media institutions with a slant towards a political actor or party during an election is violating campaign laws? Please clarify.
Invoking 20511 implies you believe pro-Trump disinfo on X posted by thousands of users constitutes "intimidation" of prospective voters. 30101 makes the "X support for Trump constitutes campaign finance fraud" argument look ridiculous:
Nah, honestly, by now the length of this conversation is way out of proportion to my interest in it. I'm not convinced by your argument even a little bit, but I'm really not compelled by talking about it anymore. Have a good one.
That's fair, I'm also bored with the topic.
Cool. Glad we agree on that, at least. Cheers!