In a first-of-its-kind case, the Justice Department is prosecuting an internet troll, using a Reconstruction-era law to claim that a series of misleading social media memes were an attempt to "deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote."
During the 2016 election season, Douglass Mackey was a prolific far-right Twitter user under the name "Ricky Vaughn." Mackey frequently posted pro-Trump memes and commentary to his 58,000 followers. One MIT Media Lab analysis has claimed that he may have had a larger effect on the 2016 election than NBC News.
