Disinformation, propaganda & #Conservative operative, Jeff Ballingall. A thread.

Erin O’Toole’s chief digital strategist, Jeff Ballingall, can be likened to a young Roger Stone, in terms of how far he is willing to push the envelope. #cdnpoli #CPC #ErinOToole
Ballingall has chided organizations he’s worked for, such as RW conservative outfit “Canadian Taxpayers Federation” for being too “risk averse” in their propaganda campaigns.

He found other RW political campaigns he’d supported too risk averse too....

#cdnpoli #ErinOToole
So Ballingall started his “Proud” groups on #Facebook.
#Ontario Proud, later “Canada Proud”, which became third party advertisers, unconstrained by rules...or ethics.
#cdnpoli #ONpoli #CPC #ErinOToole
The seemingly endless propaganda, viciously misogynistic & anti-LGBTQ attacks on former Ontario Premier, Kathleen Wynne, had “Ontario Proud” as ground zero. Attacks shared & amplified thousands upon thousands of times, primarily on #Facebook & #Instagram.
#ONpoli #cdnpoli
The seemingly endless propaganda, viciously misogynistic & anti-LGBTQ attacks on former Ontario Premier, Kathleen Wynne, had “Ontario Proud” as ground zero. Attacks shared & amplified thousands upon thousands of times, primarily on #Facebook & #Instagram. #ONpoli #cdnpoli
The seemingly endless propaganda, viciously misogynistic & anti-LGBTQ attacks on former Ontario Premier, Kathleen Wynne, had “Ontario Proud” as ground zero. Attacks shared & amplified thousands upon thousands of times, primarily on #Facebook & #Instagram. #ONpoli #cdnpoli
Ballingall obfuscated where the funding for his “Proud” endeavours were coming from. He’d claimed it was “small donations” of “$100 or $200, $300”. It wasn’t: https://www.canadalandshow.com/ontario-proud-mostly-funded-by-developers/

#cdnpoli #ErinOToole
Ontario Proud's Election Advertising Was Mostly Funded By Developers

Nearly all the funds received by the "grassroots" group came from several large corporate donors

https://www.canadalandshow.com/ontario-proud-mostly-funded-by-developers/
Loopholes allow #DarkMoney to be disguised as individual donations. However, Ballingall’s group made private pitches to large donors: https://pressprogress.ca/here-is-ontario-prouds-top-secret-fundraising-pitch-to-big-money-corporate-donors/

While the #ManningCentre funded affiliate groups engaging in similar forms of propaganda: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-manning-centre-wont-disclose-source-of-donations-to-third-parties-for/
Here is Ontario Proud’s Top Secret Fundraising Pitch to Big Money Corporate Donors

Document obtained by PressProgress shows Ontario Proud solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars from corporate donors

https://pressprogress.ca/here-is-ontario-prouds-top-secret-fundraising-pitch-to-big-money-corporate-donors/
Jeff Ballingall is also Chief Marketing Officer (& co-owner, according to the National Post) of The #PostMillennial (another owner is TPM founder, Matthew Azrieli, from the Azrieli multi-billionaire developer tycoon family). TPM is shared widely by #Conservatives in both 🇨🇦 & 🇺🇸.
Jeff Ballingall is also Chief Marketing Officer (& co-owner, according to the National Post) of The #PostMillennial (another owner is TPM founder, Matthew Azrieli, from the Azrieli multi-billionaire developer tycoon family). TPM is shared widely by #Conservatives in both & .
Jeff Ballingall is also Chief Marketing Officer (& co-owner, according to the National Post) of The #PostMillennial (another owner is TPM founder, Matthew Azrieli, from the Azrieli multi-billionaire developer tycoon family). TPM is shared widely by #Conservatives in both & .
Jeff Ballingall is also Chief Marketing Officer (& co-owner, according to the National Post) of The #PostMillennial (another owner is TPM founder, Matthew Azrieli, from the Azrieli multi-billionaire developer tycoon family). TPM is shared widely by #Conservatives in both & .
Remember this? #PostMillennial helped tank Peter MacKay’s campaign. Did MacKay know Jeff Ballingall was working for #ErinOToole, while Ballingall was using The Post Millennial to go after MacKay? https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-peter-mackay-issues-libel-notice-over-the-post-millennial-article-on/ #cdnpoli #CPC #ErinOToole
Peter MacKay issues libel notice over The Post Millennial article on polling

The Conservative leadership candidate is asking for an apology, calling the digital news website’s report defamatory

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-peter-mackay-issues-libel-notice-over-the-post-millennial-article-on/
Another troubling aspect of Ballingall’s “Proud” groups is the troll farm activity that appears in these groups. Fake accounts amplifying “Proud” content, was an unsettling feature in both recent provincial & federal elections. https://globalnews.ca/news/4735465/canadians-troll-farms-federal-election-cse/

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/russian-troll-farm-canadian-targets-1.4582561
Canadians warned ‘troll farms’ could influence online debate before federal election: report

The centre says these online actors create social media accounts or hijack existing profiles, and even set up "troll farms" of employees paid to comment on traditional media websites

https://globalnews.ca/news/4735465/canadians-troll-farms-federal-election-cse/
Jeff Ballingall always makes sure he has plausible deniability on the hate, racism, disinformation & propaganda shared in his “Proud” FB groups by both real & inauthentic users & on the types of people hired at the Post Millennial. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/08/22/news/he-used-work-site-promoted-racists-now-he-edits-canadian-news-outlet #Cdnpoli #ErinOToole
He used to work for a site that promoted racists — now he edits a

The Post Millennial is a rising star in Canada’s conservative media scene. But the outlet’s willingness to hire someone with a background working for sites that promoted hate is “disturbing,” said

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/08/22/news/he-used-work-site-promoted-racists-now-he-edits-canadian-news-outlet
Legitimate critiques of who’s putting out content on #PostMillennial, is met with attacks, not facts. https://rrj.ca/fullish-disclosure/
This represents a dangerous degradation in the #cdnmedia landscape.
#cdnpoli
Full(ish) Disclosure | | Ryerson Review of Journalism :: The Ryerson School of Journalism

What drives the Post Millennial is not journalistic principle but the old-fashioned grab for money and influence

https://rrj.ca/fullish-disclosure/
The degradation of objective truth & facts, disruptive disinformation & propaganda disguised as “news” sites, is a feature, not a bug, of RW media. People like #JeffBallingall #HammishMarshal #EzraLevant...& their wealthy backers...are key players in this degradation.
#cdnpoli /
I’m attaching this old thread at the end here, because it very much relates to this topic, & as a reminder of the dangers to democracy when the information ecosystem is infected with info-toxins pretending to be “news”.

#cdnpoli #cdnmedia
https://twitter.com/heathermoandco/status/1309203613793816580?s=21 https://twitter.com/heathermoandco/status/1309203613793816580
You can follow @HeatherMoAndCo.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled:
Those who think consciousness raising & movement building are disconnected, or even a distraction from electoral politics have not paid attention to the history of social change.In this thread, we
Read more
The 2020s will be known as the Remote Work decadeA few predictions of what is likely to emerge[ a thread ] Third Space: Office and Working from Home will
Read more
1/29: Have you ever had a concept explained to you that helps frame complex issues you’ve been wrestling with and opens your eyes to new possibilities? A concept that I
Read more
By continuing to use the site, you are consenting to the use of cookies as explained in our Cookie Policy to improve your experience.