Turning Point Action

Turning Point Action is a 501(c)(4) organization founded in May 2019 by Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. It is a political action committee intended to target Democrats.[1] which purchased the assets of Students for Trump, a youth group founded in 2015 at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina by John Lambert and Ryan Fournier.[2][3]

2020 presidential elections

In September 2020, The Washington Post reported Turning Point Action had paid young people in Arizona, some of them minors, to post Turning Point content on their social media accounts without disclosing their affiliation with Turning Point, and that Turning Point had given them specific instructions how to make minor alterations to the content to prevent detection that it came from the same source. The posts cast doubt on the integrity of the electoral process, and downplayed the threat from COVID-19.[4]

The campaign has been likened to a "troll farm", avoiding the content moderation processes of social media platforms.[5]

After The Washington Post reported the campaign, the accounts associated with the campaign were shut down by Twitter and Facebook.[6]

References
  1. Schwartz, Brian. "Pro-Trump college GOP activist Charlie Kirk will launch a new group to target Democrats in 2020". www.cnbc.com. CNBC. Archived from the original on July 22, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  2. "Turning Point Action Launches 2020 Expansion, Acquires 'Students for Trump'". Students for Trump. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  3. Brown, Stephen Rex (August 6, 2019). "Students for Trump founder pleads guilty to posing as lawyer in $46K scam". nydailynews.com. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  4. Stanley-Becker, Isaac (September 16, 2020). "Pro-Trump youth group enlists teens in secretive campaign likened to a 'troll farm,' prompting rebuke by Facebook and Twitter". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  5. Lopatto, Elizabeth (September 15, 2020). "Conservative group used a bunch of teens to evade Twitter and Facebook moderation". The Verge. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  6. Paul LeBlanc and Donie O'Sullivan. "Twitter and Facebook shut down accounts linked to youth conservative group's misleading social media campaign". CNN. Retrieved September 16, 2020.


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