About

Correct the Record (CTR) is an independent-expenditure only committee, also known as a Super PAC, which maintains a large presence on social media to promote and defend the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. While other Super PACs are prohibited by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) from coordinating directly with campaigns or political parties, CTR is able to work closely with the Clinton campaign due to its exclusive use of various social media in its operations. Online, the organization has been scrutinized for paying people to defend Clinton in various online discussions, a practice many have denounced as an example of "astroturfing."

History

In 2013, Correct the Record^[16] was founded by author David Brock. In December, the organization's official Facebook^[11] and Twitter^[10] feeds were launched, gathering upwards of 17,300 and 15,700 respective subscribers in three years.

News Media Coverage

In September 2014, Mother Jones^[7] published an article titled "David Brock's Army of 'Nerd Virgins' Has Hillary's Back," which reported that the CTR "keeps constant watch for any conceivable attacks against her [Hillary Clinton], and then aggressively beats them back before they take hold." In September 2015, The New York Times^[6] referred to the Super PAC as Hillary Clinton's "own personal media watchdog."

Attack on Bernie Sanders

In September 2015, the CTR circulated an email attempting to link Bernie Sanders to Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez and the United Kingdom Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. On September 15th, Sanders sent out an email to supporters denouncing the political attack:

“Yesterday, one of Hillary Clinton’s most prominent Super PACs attacked our campaign pretty viciously. It was the kind of onslaught I expected to see from the Koch Brothers or Sheldon Adelson, and it’s the second time a billionaire Super PAC has tried to stop the momentum of the political revolution we’re building together.”

On September 17th, The Huffington Post^[9] reported that Sanders had raised over $1.2 million within 48 hours of sending the email.

Barrier Breakers

In April 2016, CTR launched the Barrier Breakers task force to "help Clinton supporters push back on online harassment and thank super delegates."^[14] On April 21st, Redditor SouthernJeb submitted a posted about the CTR project to /r/politics,^[15] where many derided the project as a type of "astroturfing."

Finances

On April 21st, 2016, The Daily Beast^[1] reported that a pro-Hillary Clinton Super PAC was spending $1 million on Correct the Record to "push back against" criticisms of Clinton on various social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and Instagram. That day, the article reached the front page of the /r/technology^[2] and /r/politics^[3] subreddits. Additionally, the /r/SandersForPresident^[17] subreddit posted a warning to subscribers of an "expected influx of unwelcome content from Super PAC Correct The Record." On April 22nd, The Young Turks uploaded an episode about the news story (shown below).

By late July, the nonprofit political finance watchdog group OpenSecrets.org^[4] reported that Correct the Record's budget had increased to $6 million.

Wikileaks Email

In a batch of Democratic National Committee emails leaked by Wikileaks^[5] on July 22nd, 2016, a message sent by DNC staffer Jeremy Brinster confirmed that a "Super PAC" was "paying young voters to push back online on Sanders supporters."

Related Memes

"Thank You For #CorrectingTheRecord" Copypasta

Users on 4chan's /pol/^[12] (politics) board and Reddit's /r/the_donald^[13] subreddit often mock comments defending Clinton with variations of the copypasta message "Thanks for #CorrectingTheRecord! $.02 has been deposited in your account."

Search Interest

External References