Skip to main content

Hillary Clinton PAC spends millions on ‘correcting’ her critics on social media

doordash presidential election menu hillary clinton
Hillary Clinton/Facebook
Bernie has his online army of “bros,” and Trump has his Twitter tirades, but did you know that Hillary Clinton also has an effective weapon in her online arsenal?

A PAC that has reportedly received million dollars in funding is pledging to increase its fight against those who personally attack Clinton and her superdelegates on social media. Correct the Record, as it is known, has created a task force to aid the Democrat primary hopeful’s online supporter base and “push back” against the online harassment being thrown at Clinton.

Recommended Videos

Having amassed $5 million this campaign season, Correct the Record will be investing $1 million dollars in its online initiative in 2016, reports The Daily Beast. That battle will be fought on the outspoken front lines of popular social networks, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit.

Having already addressed 5,000 individuals who have criticized Clinton on Twitter — including rival Sanders’ infamous male supporters, known as ‘Bernie Bros’ — Correct the Record’s ‘Barrier Breakers’ digital task force is now tripling its operation.

The effort is being led by the PAC’s creator and longstanding Hillary and Bill Clinton backer David Brock, alongside former reporters, bloggers, public affairs specialists, Ready for Hillary alumni, and “Hillary super fans.”

“Hillary’s supporters are more enthusiastic than Sen. Bernie Sanders’ supporters, yet oftentimes are discouraged from engaging online and are “often afraid to voice their thoughts” because of the fear of online harassment,” writes Correct the Record in its press release announcing Breaking Barriers 2016. “Many of Hillary Clinton’s female supporters in particular have been subject to intense cyber-bullying and sexist attacks from swarms of anonymous attackers.”

Up until now, Sanders has dominated the online conversation on the Democrat side of the electorate when it comes to social media and Google search results during debates and caucuses. Correct the Record will be hoping to turn the tide, in particular by targeting those Sanders supporters with information about Clinton that encourages them to switch candidates.

Unfortunately for Clinton and her digital task force, the “genuine” nature of social media is hard to gauge, as evidenced in a recent poll that found both Clinton and Trump have the highest number of fake followers on Twitter. Changing that statistic may end up being the real battle for Correct the Record.

Saqib Shah
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Saqib Shah is a Twitter addict and film fan with an obsessive interest in pop culture trends. In his spare time he can be…
How to make a GIF from a YouTube video
woman sitting and using laptop

Sometimes, whether you're chatting with friends or posting on social media, words just aren't enough -- you need a GIF to fully convey your feelings. If there's a moment from a YouTube video that you want to snip into a GIF, the good news is that you don't need complex software to so it. There are now a bunch of ways to make a GIF from a YouTube video right in your browser.

If you want to use desktop software like Photoshop to make a GIF, then you'll need to download the YouTube video first before you can start making a GIF. However, if you don't want to go through that bother then there are several ways you can make a GIF right in your browser, without the need to download anything. That's ideal if you're working with a low-specced laptop or on a phone, as all the processing to make the GIF is done in the cloud rather than on your machine. With these options you can make quick and fun GIFs from YouTube videos in just a few minutes.
Use GIFs.com for great customization
Step 1: Find the YouTube video that you want to turn into a GIF (perhaps a NASA archive?) and copy its URL.

Read more
I paid Meta to ‘verify’ me — here’s what actually happened
An Instagram profile on an iPhone.

In the fall of 2023 I decided to do a little experiment in the height of the “blue check” hysteria. Twitter had shifted from verifying accounts based (more or less) on merit or importance and instead would let users pay for a blue checkmark. That obviously went (and still goes) badly. Meanwhile, Meta opened its own verification service earlier in the year, called Meta Verified.

Mostly aimed at “creators,” Meta Verified costs $15 a month and helps you “establish your account authenticity and help[s] your community know it’s the real us with a verified badge." It also gives you “proactive account protection” to help fight impersonation by (in part) requiring you to use two-factor authentication. You’ll also get direct account support “from a real person,” and exclusive features like stickers and stars.

Read more
Here’s how to delete your YouTube account on any device
How to delete your YouTube account

Wanting to get out of the YouTube business? If you want to delete your YouTube account, all you need to do is go to your YouTube Studio page, go to the Advanced Settings, and follow the section that will guide you to permanently delete your account. If you need help with these steps, or want to do so on a platform that isn't your computer, you can follow the steps below.

Note that the following steps will delete your YouTube channel, not your associated Google account.

Read more