this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2024
561 points (98.3% liked)

News

23296 readers
4413 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Summary

Elon Musk and his America PAC face lawsuits in Texas and Michigan from voters claiming they were misled by Musk’s million-dollar giveaway, which allegedly promoted itself as a random sweepstakes.

Plaintiffs Jacqueline McAferty and Robert Anthony Alvarez argue they wouldn’t have provided personal information or signed a petition if they’d known winners were chosen based on their support for Donald Trump, rather than randomly.

Musk’s lawyer recently revealed that the PAC selected winners from swing states as spokespeople, contradicting claims of a nonpartisan, random giveaway.

top 20 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 62 points 1 week ago (2 children)

The PA ruling is going to make it hard for him to win these suits.

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 74 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The sad thing is that "offering lottery entries for being registered to vote" and "offering a lottery-style contest that secretly does not select winners randomly" are two crimes, neither of which is mutually exclusive from the other, and the judge still ruled that it could continue.

[–] fushuan@lemm.ee 3 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Why is offering lottery entries for being registered to vote a crime? You could have gotten a ticket and then vote whatever, no?

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Because 42 U.S.C. § 1973i(c) says so:

(c) False information in registering or voting; penalties Whoever knowingly or willfully gives false information as to his name, address or period of residence in the voting district for the purpose of establishing his eligibility to register or vote, or conspires with another individual for the purpose of encouraging his false registration to vote or illegal voting, or pays or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration to vote or for voting shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both: Provided, however, That this provision shall be applicable only to general, special, or primary elections held solely or in part for the purpose of selecting or electing any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, presidential elector, Member of the United States Senate, Member of the United States House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, Guam, or the Virgin Islands, or Resident Commissioner of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

[–] fushuan@lemm.ee -4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

That sounds dumb, promoting voting participation doesn't sound like it should be illegal. But whatever.

[–] Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago

It's because you can target specific people, creating the outcome you want to see.

[–] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

But using gambling addictions to do so is.

It is like offering heroin when you clean your room. "But cleaning your room doesn't sound like it should be illegal"

[–] fushuan@lemm.ee 1 points 1 week ago

I guess, you are right. But that's not what's illegal, ironically. Directly offering money is according to the other one who linked me an US law.

[–] Tyfud@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It is illegal to bribe people to vote

[–] fushuan@lemm.ee -1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Apparently, I don't think it should be though. Promoting voter participation should be celebrated, not fined. Even if it's that shitbag doing it.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It absolutely should be. Do you want wealthy people to be able to offer poor and/or homeless people $100 to vote for candidate X?

Because that's not a hypothetical, that shit used to happen all of the time.

[–] fushuan@lemm.ee 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I did not say that, in that I 100% agree with you but is not what was suggested. Bribing people to vote for X is completely different to bribing people to vote fullstop.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 week ago

And how do you let the one happen while preventing the other?

[–] adarza@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

state laws on gambling and lotteries are not to be messed with. he set himself up brilliantly to get hammered by multiple states. and that's on top of the probable federal and state election laws.

[–] rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 33 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I was having a really shitty day and then: THIS!

This warms the cockles of my cold, black heart.

[–] M600@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago

Trump will just save him. Sorry to ruin it for you.

[–] HeyJoe@lemmy.world 25 points 1 week ago

The damage was already done and that's all that really mattered. Being sued had to be something they already thought of. In the end what fines are we even talking about here? Do we really think it matters much to a multi billionaire who gave away 120 million to a PAC? Whatever he pays doesn't matter.

[–] ATDA@lemmy.world 24 points 1 week ago

Can't wait for a long list of lawsuits that get quashed by the executive branch that conservatives are going to justify then ignore...

[–] BigMacHole@lemm.ee 21 points 1 week ago

It's a Good Thing we didn't just Elect Elon Musk to a Government Oversight Position!

[–] ryan213@lemmy.ca 14 points 1 week ago

Class Action!