Paul Horner, writer of fake news about 2016 election, found dead

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

PHOENIX -- A leading purveyor of fake news in the 2016 presidential election has died outside Phoenix at the age of 38.

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office spokesman Mark Casey said Tuesday authorities discovered Paul Horner dead in his bed on Sept. 18.

Casey said the Maricopa County medical examiner performed an autopsy which showed there were no signs of foul play. He said Horner had a history of prescription drug abuse and that "evidence at the scene suggested this could be an accidental overdose."

Horner was known for writing false stories and disseminating internet hoaxes that often went viral on Facebook and hoodwinked thousands of people.

They included a story falsely claiming former President Obama was gay and a radical Muslim, and another saying protesters were being paid thousands of dollars to demonstrate at Donald Trump's campaign rallies.

Horner took on greater prominence during the presidential election when false stories were widely shared on social media during the race between Trump and Hillary Clinton.

In an interview with The Washington Post in 2016, Horner said he thought Trump won the White House because of him. Horner said Trump's supporters didn't fact-check his stories before posting them.

"My sites were picked up by Trump supporters all the time. I think Trump is in the White House because of me. His followers don't fact-check anything — they'll post everything, believe anything. His campaign manager posted my story about a protester getting paid $3,500 as fact. Like, I made that up. I posted a fake ad on Craigslist," he told The Washington Post in November.

Even members of President Trump's inner circle, including Mr. Trump's son Eric and then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, shared links to Horner's content. Horner's stories also made their way to Google News, known to feature stories from reputable news sources.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paul-horner-fake-news-writer-found-dead/

I am not surprised that conservatives thought Obama was a gay Muslim, but I would be surprised of Paul Horner was not on the Russian payroll.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

There is fake news, complete bullshit, and then there is something different when you create evidence to support your fake story. Citing a real ad that you created in order to give strength to a story you made up goes to another level, almost a level of propaganda.

 

[Opoponax]

There is fake news, complete bullshit, and then there is something different when you create evidence to support your fake story. Citing a real ad that you created in order to give strength to a story you made up goes to another level, almost a level of propaganda.

Just to get one sentiment out of the way before getting to the next: this guy was 38 and now he's dead; yet Trump just rolls the fuck on.

Next, what you point out brings into question as to whether the First Amendment should protect something like this. If it could be construed as commercial speech, it doesn't. The test for whether speech was pretty much defined in Bolger v. Youngs Drug Products Corp. SCOTUS laid out a test identifying three characteristics that, if all are present, lend strong support to a finding of commercial speech: (1) if the communication is an advertisement; (2) if the communication concerns a product; and (3) if the speaker has an economic motivation.

Prong 1 in this case is questionable. I don't know enough about this guy's writing to try and determine if his writings could constitute an advertisement, so really, the answer in all likelihood is no. Prong 2: his writing is a product that presumably was for sale in some capacity, so maybe. Prong 3: he certainly had an economic motivation. It need not be the only motivation, so yes.

Overall, it likely fails as commercial speech and thus is protected. But here's the thing: the false information shat out onto the unsuspecting and willingly fooled public, at least on this scale, with the resultant consequences, is unprecedented. In that regard, it parallels Trump's candidacy and subsequent presidency. Things like this have never happened before, which tends to paralyze any potential legal action.

An argument could be made that the harm caused, if any, is simply not measurable. And if fleshed out, is probably a winning argument. That brings up another problem: people have figured out how to abuse the living shit out of the First Amendment and there's either nothing that can be done about it, or, if there were something that could be done about it, the people currently in power will either a) do nothing about it, or b) if brought before a court, it would end up in SCOTUS, and the current makeup of SCOTUS would likely render a decision that would make such speech/expression wholly lawful, thereby making things even worse than they are now.

Conclusion: we're so fucked.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Can I put in an in Craigslist looking for hookers under Trump's name and then can MSNBC?

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Clever. Hillary finishes her book and then begins her bloodthirsty campaign to violently murder all those who thwarted her. This way, she's not forced to include a chapter trying to justify her homicidal rampage.

It would have been nice if she'd begun putting this much though into having plans for things a year or so ago.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Clever. Hillary finishes her book and then begins her bloodthirsty campaign to violently murder all those who thwarted her. This way, she's not forced to include a chapter trying to justify her homicidal rampage.

It would have been nice if she'd begun putting this much though into having plans for things a year or so ago.

Huh?

This is the basis for the next book deal.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

I am glad she is getting her revenge. Go Hillarya Stark!

 

[Elixir]

Wonder who she hired to rub that guy out...

 

[ronburgundy]

Better late than never.

And yes, I am unapologetically happy he is dead. Now, if only all those who believed his stories would follow suit.