How much did a Hopkinton woman with online burner accounts affect last election?

HOPKINTON — Controversy regarding an elected official’s use of multiple pseudonyms to criticize political opponents and stoke divisive rhetoric has highlighted an issue in local politics and social media, political experts and community conversation hosts say.

On June 5, the online news site HopNews reported that Darlene Hayes, chair of the Hopkinton Democratic Town Committee, as well as an elected member to the Board of Commissioners for the Hopkinton Housing Authority, had used more than 20 different pseudonyms while posting in the comment section of the website — with a bulk of the comments being criticisms of her local political opponents.

"The behavior of Darlene Hayes is no different than what the Russian Twitter bot behavior was in the federal election during the 2016 election," said Peter Thomas, publisher and editor-in-chief of HopNews. "It was essentially a coordinated campaign to create misinformation and spread that misinformation."

According to Thomas, Hayes used different accounts to comment and spread information — some of which was later determined to be inaccurate — about political opponents, particularly during the final few weeks of the local election season in May.

Multiple accounts used to criticize political rival

Hayes, using numerous accounts, posted disparaging comments about School Committee candidate Ashley Fogg, who was running as an independent, while endorsing Democratic candidates Adam Munroe and Susan Stephenson. Hayes made similar comments, under the same pseudonyms, on the Hopkinton Independent, another publication that covers the community.

In a report conducted by HopNews, a poster using the name "Noel Centino" — later determined to be Hayes — responded to an op-ed entitled "There is no Place for Bullying in Hopkinton," written by Fogg:

"Ashley Fogg, you offered private meetings not open transparency to questions asked. People wanted your voice heard, in open forum transparently not behind closed doors. You skirted direct questions being asked by concerned citizens, public officials need to be an open book and accountable to questions asked which is in no way bullying but very concerned parents. Vote for Munroe & Stephenson, they are experienced, invested in education & been attending school committee meetings in person (if you only watch on HCAM at your leisure this year, which is what Fogg said at the women’s club event, not a very vested approach) nor did she attend town meeting that both Munroe & Stephenson did, both asked questions especially with the vital budget needs for the schools being addressed. Hopkinton needs to come together and vote for Adam Munroe and Susan Stephenson."

In the same comment section, Hayes was found to have made several other posts under different names, with similar statements about Fogg, giving off the impression there were many people who held similar views.

"Fogg spent time voicing her complaints at school committee meetings against masking, she was treated respectfully and given the time to express her concerns," Hayes wrote, under the screen name "Kim M." "She is unwilling to answer direct questions, wants to do it behind closed doors and this cannot be tolerated, candidates throw their hat in to these volunteer positions are also accountable to public input. Call it crying about lack of transparency or call it a candidate who is hiding a personal agenda like wanting to ban books and is anti-pride flags that support our LBGTQ+ residents which includes marginalized student populations who need our support."

HopNews reported that it determined that all accounts belonged to Hayes when those accounts were connected to the same IP address Hayes had been using.

Hayes issues apology, resigns from all elected positions

Hayes issued a public apology on June 12 for her conduct, and has since resigned from her position as chair of the Hopkinton Democratic Town Committee, as well as all elected town positions.

She did not respond to requests for comment by the Daily News.

In the May 15 annual town election, Democrats Munroe and Stephenson won the two available seats on the Hopkinton School Committee, getting 998 and 934 votes, respectively; Fogg, who is unenrolled, received 616.

Hopkinton is one of less than a dozen communities in Massachusetts that have partisan elections for town positions. The Democratic and Republican town committees thus play active roles in nominating and endorsing candidates.

Hayes' actions have led to further discussion about the value of public comments made online — whether they're on a news site, Facebook, Twitter or other forms of social media — and their reliability. Thomas said comments provide a valuable space for people who are invested in the news to share their opinions, but those opinions can be represented in a disingenuous or misleading way.

"I don't begrudge anyone who wants to advocate for their candidate," he said. "On the other hand, doing it in such a way that makes it seem like there is a symphony of voices all sharing the same opinion is disingenuous. The value of having a forum for people to discuss this is that this is the spot people discuss important issues because people want to read the news, and it gives people an opportunity to have a meaningful dialogue."

The use of anonymous accounts that conceal identities has not been limited to Hopkinton. Last month in Framingham, there was concern from elected officials when resident Justin Kapust was named as an alternate member to the city's Agricultural Advisory Committee. Kapust is founder of Framingham Unfiltered, a website that allows users to submit anonymous content that is often critical of city officials, and has included racist and homophobic material.

Earlier: Should Framingham Unfiltered founder serve on city board? His approval provokes debate

State Rep. James Arena-DeRosa, D-Holliston, whose district includes Hopkinton, issued the following statement about the controversy.

"It is an unfortunate and disappointing situation; hopefully all of us, regardless of our politics — can commit in the upcoming 2024 political cycle to focus on positive campaigning, public policy differences and candidate experiences," Arena-DeRosa stated. "I had a chance to meet all the Hopkinton School Committee candidates, and noted that I would be happy to work with all of them either as newly elected officials or in their role as valued community volunteers. Where Hopkinton and news outlets go from here with local online monitoring is not in my purview, but I would note that there are many individuals on the Hopkinton Democratic Town Committee who have served the town for years, deeply value their community and have all helped make Hopkinton a great place to live."

Controversy damages trust in public debate

Christopher McCarthy-Latimer, a political science professor at Framingham State University, said social media has grown to become a major aspect in any election campaign, and that the biggest campaigns are spending millions to try and gain an advantage through online posting.

"In general, social media has had a massive impact on political campaigning and has become much more mainstream," McCarthy-Latimer said. "Now, especially the Trump and Biden administrations, they spend millions and millions of dollars on social media because they know their messages are going to get out, whether they are correct or incorrect."

McCarthy-Latimer said the veracity of information that is being posted online has become a major concern in the political sphere — with campaigns willingly encouraging "anonymous" accounts to push narratives, and foreign influences from countries like Russia and China getting involved to push information that serves their political interests.

"Whether or not messages are correct or incorrect, it's hard to determine if they're coming from people in a particular campaign, people outside of the campaign, and we know that countries like China and Russia have been coming into social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and supplying false information on purpose to influence the outcomes of an election, and they have been successful to an extent in doing that," McCarthy-Latimer said.

While at the federal level, millions of dollars are being spent on social media campaigns, in smaller communities such as an individual community like Hopkinton or Framingham, the impact that one committed individual can have in terms of spamming information is greater. With only 1,473 ballots submitted in the most recent Hopkinton election, it's impossible to determine the impact one person could have had through multiple pseudonym posting.

"It's easier in a local election, if an individual is able to come up with multiple accounts, and talk about someone or something that isn't true, and that information can spread to other social media outlets and can have an impact," McCarthy-Latimer said. "It's hard to measure the impact, because many people won't admit that they have received or gotten their information from the internet, or (from) someone who is lying about their identity, but it could influence who they support and who they vote for."

McCarthy-Latimer said it's likely that similar behavior takes place throughout the country, and that at the local level it can be more difficult to determine the truth behind claims and statements, because there are fewer places of record that will research the veracity of any information that is presented.

"I think that you would probably have to ask a candidate directly if something is true or not to determine if a claim being made against them is accurate," McCarthy-Latimer said.

Despite the challenges caused by anonymous content, Thomas said that if a site is going to allow comments at all, it must allow for anonymity, because there's no firm way for a platform to ensure a user is going under their real identity. He added that posting through a screen name can allow for more honest discussion, particularly about local issues.

"People want to say things, but they don't want to get side-eyed at the grocery store — that is what happens in a small town," he said. "If you take a position that is politically unpopular, people are going to treat you and your kids differently. In that sense, people are afraid, they have been afraid to say what they really feel. In a way, the group think stifles democracy in a small town, and having a forum where people can say what they really feel without fear of retribution changes that."

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Hopkinton official used pseudonyms to criticize political rivals