Hint: it's from a habitual liar who relies on fake news, who believes fake news sources = "many people are saying."
If you're asserting something extraordinary, please link to a reliable source for the assertion.
(This one is not yet debunked, but the earlier rallies to call the DOJ in connection with the electoral vote have been.)
False Advocacy: What it is. Why it's harmful. How to stop it.
We are being inundated with urgent requests to call, email, sign petitions, text, etc. Unfortunately, many of these are "False Advocacy."
WHAT IS FALSE ADVOCACY
False Advocacy is using an appeal of some kind to mislead people into engaging in some action that is supposedly an effective political strategy when in fact, it is false, ineffective or simply impossible. The real purpose of the False Advocacy action is something else, like getting your contact information to provide to another entity for a completely different purpose (like fundraising or other solicitation.)
Right now, we are being inundated with "False Advocacy" actions - everything from emailing the President to delay the Electoral College vote (he doesn't have the legal authority to do this) and petitioning Congress to stop DT from hiring Steve Bannon (Congress has no authority over Executive Branch staff) to calling the CIA to insist they brief all Electoral College members before the vote on classified information about the Russian hacking (the CIA can't do that either - at least not unilaterally.)
WHY FALSE ADVOCACY IS BAD
False Advocacy, like false news, is harmful. It steers people toward actions that are not effective. Engaging in these actions takes valuable time and energy from activists. It also leads people to believe they are taking effective action, when they really are not. False Advocacy is exploitive. It could even be dangerous because we don't know who is actually getting our information and for what purpose.
HOW TO STOP FALSE ADVOCACY
We are going to be bombarded over the next four years with many opportunities to take action. Whether well meaning or not, we must be vigilant about ensuring these requests for action are not False Advocacy and that the actions we take have the potential to be effective. So, how can we avoid False Advocacy?
First - Before passing on a request for action, verify it. For instance, if the request is supposedly from your US Senator, call her District Office and ask her staff if this is a request she is making. Or go to her official website or Facebook page. If the action isn't mentioned, then she is probably not requesting it.
Second - If the request is not from a person or group you can contact, do some basic investigation. Run a quick internet search on the action and/or the website that is hosting the action to see if it is legitimate.
Third - Find out if the action you are being asked to advocate for has the potential to be effective. This might take some work. For example, people have been asked to contact President Obama to delay the Electoral College vote.
A few quick searches reveals that the date for the Electoral College vote was established by a vote of Congress. It is a law set out in the US Code. The President does not have the legal authority to delay the vote. If you are not able to do the research, ask someone who can. Or ask the community what they think about the legitimacy of the action before asking people to engage in the action.
Fourth - Be mindful of words. Take time to read what you are being asked to do and understand it. Be sure to compare the "ask" to the action. Watch for situations where someone asks you to sign a petition for "X" and when you go to the petition site, the action on the site is "Y" - it is different from what was initially represented.
Finally - Never rely on the supposed source of the request. It can be faked. Contact and verify.
(Ironically, excerpted from an unsourced facebook post)
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