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December 29th, 2011 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda Members of the Reddit community have launched a digital grassroots campaign against pro-SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) politicians.
Redditors began the campaign Wednesday with a post asking fellow Redditors for suggestions on a politician to target. The original poster, Reddit user “digitalboy,” was inspired by the social news site’s community effort to boycott GoDaddy over their support for SOPA.
[More from Mashable: GoDaddy CEO: ‘We’re Not Cynical Folks’]
The original mission statement was to find “one senator” who voted for SOPA or the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) and “destroy him.”
Digitalboy’s post left it up to responders to decide the target of Reddit’s wrath. In a few hours, the community decided on South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. A “subreddit” named “Operation Graham Cracker” was opened by Reddit user “spez.” There, participants posted material showing Graham’s support for positions unpopular in the Reddit community, which favors free speech and an open Internet.
[More from Mashable: As Users Rail Against GoDaddy, Unpacking the SOPA Supporter List [VIDEO]]
Some Redditors expressed concern over the mission of the campaign. “Redblender” asked, “What’s the objective here? To stop SOPA/NDAA? Or to destroy someone?” The front page for the Operation Graham Cracker subreddit now states that the goal is to “show that legislation like SOPA and PIPA, as well as the indefinite detention sections of the NDAA are unacceptable, and that there is career blowback for supporting such legislation.”
According to the organizers, this will be achieved through the following methods:
- “Cause the electorate (voters of target district) to become completely disillusioned with the idea of voting for the candidate.”
- “Destabilize candidate’s office through legal, peaceful disturbance and investigation.”
- “Send a clear message to all of the body politic that the internet is a force for good that should be reckoned with.”
Even with this outline, the campaign’s target sparked fresh debates. Many Redditors, including “FM7-8,” expressed the desire for a non-partisan effort targeting pro-SOPA Democrats and Republicans alike. Soon after the “Graham Cracker” subreddit opened, the community realized that Senator Graham is not up for re-election in 2012. The Redditors decided they would change targets.
A dialogue opened to discuss and debate alternatives, and Redditors chose Wisconsin Republican Congressman Paul Ryan.
A new subreddit opened named “Operation Pull Ryan.” Redditor “joshawesome” registered pullryan.com. The subreddit has become a source for data about Ryan’s legislative record and contact information for his offices and social media accounts. Facebook and Twitter pages for Operation Pull Ryan have also been established. One Redditor, “Niehaus,” reached out to an opponent of Ryan to get his stance on SOPA, and a screenshot of the response was posted in the subreddit.
Redditors are currently debating the most effective ways to have an impact on Ryan’s next election, being held Nov. 6, 2012.
Will the Reddit community’s methods be an effective way to influence next year’s elections? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, sjlocke
This story originally published on Mashable here.
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