The Facebook MAGA mills are open for business
Massive right-wing Facebook networks are growing rapidly ahead of 2024
When journalists and political junkies think about large-scale, politically impactful Facebook operations, many think of influential mega-pages like Ben Shapiro and Dan Bongino on the Right or Occupy Democrats and The Other 98% on the Left. We typically know the people behind those professionalized operations and how they work.
However, just below the surface is an entire industry of lesser-known actors running networks of Facebook pages with cumulatively larger followings and exponentially more engagement. We’ll dig deep into that industry and more in this week’s FWIW.
But first…
By the numbers
FWIW, here were the top-spending political advertisers on Facebook + Instagram last week:
The Daily Wire has officially moved into the chocolate business, launching a line of “anti-woke” chocolate bars as a way to stick it to Hershey's. Modeled after their successful Jeremy’s Razors campaign, the right-wing outlet is spending big telling people to “stop giving your money to woke chocolate companies that hate you.”
Not to be outdone, Adam Kinzinger’s new campaign, called #BreakFree, is equally bizarre. His team at Country First has spent several thousand dollars on Facebook ads in the past week hawking generic merch that pairs with this wild 6-minute “short film.”
Meanwhile, here were the top-spending political advertisers on Google and YouTube last week:
Spending on Google was led by several major advertisers in next month’s Wisconsin State Supreme Court election – all supporting liberal justice Janet Protasiewicz. A Better Wisconsin Together, Janet for Justice, and One for All Committee are blanketing YouTube in the state with ads supporting Janet or criticizing her opponent.
…and here’s a snapshot of political ad spending on Snapchat, year-to-date:
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From around the internet
In yet another attempt to harness love for political purposes, 2020 campaign Twitter star Marianne Williamson launched another presidential campaign last weekend.
The anti-LGBT Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee, Randy McNally, shepherded through notorious legislation banning public drag shows in the state last week. At the same time, he has been publicly flirting with a scantily-clad young man on Instagram. The story was first reported by the Tennessee Holler. Remember folks, those Instagram comments are public 😂
Our friends at Arena are hosting their first virtual Arena Academy of the 24’ cycle next month, where aspiring political pros can learn from some of the best in the business. Apply by Sun. Mar. 19 here >>
Is Meta building a Twitter replacement? Casey Newton has the details on a distributed, text-based social platform currently being developed by the company.
2024 Dispatch
FWIW, here’s how much money likely or confirmed 2024 presidential candidates have spent on Facebook + Google ads to date (2/26 - 3/4):
In the last week:
Trump began trolling DeSantis with Facebook ads referring to their relationship as a Master/Apprentice situation.
Several Republican contenders geo-targeted CPAC last weekend with digital ads.
Larry Hogan is no longer going to run for President, despite the fact that his PAC spent several thousand dollars raising his profile in recent months.
The Facebook MAGA mills are open for business
When journalists and political junkies think about large-scale, politically impactful Facebook operations, many think of influential mega-pages like Ben Shapiro and Dan Bongino on the Right or Occupy Democrats and The Other 98% on the Left. We typically know the people behind those professionalized operations and how they work.
However, below the surface is an entire industry of lesser-known actors running networks of Facebook pages with cumulatively larger followings and exponentially more engagement.
FWIW has identified a large-scale, opaque, and interconnected network of over 70 right-wing Facebook pages – which are run by only a handful of individuals – that crank out hundreds of hyper-partisan, conservative posts daily. With names like “President Trump is My Wingman,” “Freedom From The Press”, and “The American Tribune,” these pages have built a cumulative owned audience of 38 million followers and have generated more than 100 million reactions, shares, and comments on their posts over the past year.
This network, which consists of a dizzying array of LLC’s and “fake news” websites, has used interest in Trump and pro-Trump MAGA messaging to grow aggressively in recent months, more than doubling their total page following & post output over the past year.
Digital strategists on both sides of the aisle will tell you that it’s incredibly difficult to grow large-scale Facebook followings these days without major investments in paid advertising. But somehow, these pages seem to have cracked the code. Almost all of them use a combination of limited ad spend + nearly identical ad copy to generate massive page growth rapidly:
And while many of these pages may seem like they were created by the conservative grassroots, FWIW has traced their ownership to small clusters of individuals who seem to care far more about making a quick buck by using scammy direct marketing tactics and MAGA Republicans’ obsession with Trump.
Making Web LLC, I Love My Freedom, Trending Politics
The majority of pages we identified in this network can be linked to one Minnesota-based company named Making Web LLC. Making Web runs two public-facing brands: TrendingPolitics.com and I Love My Freedom.
Five years ago, April Glaser at Slate first identified this group and published a must-read piece looking into their origins and motivations titled “MAGA Mills.” Glaser was successful at reaching the three co-owners of the company, who told her that their goal was to simply fill a gap in providing engaging political content for conservatives. At the time, their operation was still kind of small ball - consisting of around 10 employees running eight large Facebook pages focused on building a political direct marketing and merch business.
Since then, the business has been booming, apparently. Between 2019 and 2020, Making Web LLC grew its revenue by 1,516%, earning a spot on Inc’s 500 fastest-growing companies list. Their affiliated Facebook pages have multiplied by orders of magnitude, and it appears that they now drive traffic to multiple far-right “fake news” sites, in addition to trendingpolitics.com.
FWIW reached out to MakingWeb LLC and TrendingPolitics for comment and did not receive a response.
Hired guns
There are several other clusters of Facebook pages that deploy nearly identical tactics.
One group is linked to Tomer Barazani, a 20-something who just graduated from the University of Texas last year. His Linkedin says that he works as an editor for Sports Illustrated and serves as CEO of a digital marketing firm named B&B Digital Media.
B&B Digital Media boasts on LinkedIn that they specialize in social media growth, management, and monetization.
Barazani appears to be a hired gun for other brands, as he’s listed in the Facebook Ad Disclaimer for 36 different Facebook pages, including for some well-established sites. This is pretty notable: in the political advertising space, it’s odd for an individual to be listed in a Facebook Ad Disclaimer, which is usually reserved for an organization or legal entity’s name.
FWIW also reached out to Barazani for comment and did not receive a response.
Facebook in 2024
These types of networks aren’t exactly new to many of us who follow digital politics closely. However, the lack of attention given to the industry has allowed it to proliferate completely unchecked. Some of these companies could be violating Facebook’s policies against “coordinated inauthentic behavior,” and at the very least, the company should require them to provide additional transparency information around their affiliations and ownership.
With the 2024 election cycle just getting started, all signs point to the fact that these for-profit MAGA networks will only become larger and more powerful over the coming months. There is no doubt that they could have an impact on our elections – even if the people behind them are less interested in politics and more interested in making a quick buck off of Trump supporters.
One thing is for certain: Americans deserve to know more about the people behind the MAGA mills. If they are in fact breaking Meta’s policies, they should be held accountable.
That’s it for FWIW this week! If you enjoyed reading today’s newsletter, do us a huge favor and give it a share on Twitter!
We also wanted to welcome new Editorial Assistant Lucy Ritzmann to the FWIW team! With Lucy on board, you can expect far fewer typos and more clever subject lines. Have a tip, idea, comment or question? Shoot me a reply and I promise to respond to every email.