Trump campaign ‘used sophisticated algorithm to dissuade black voters from going to the polls’

Hillary Clinton's 2016 camapign hit by fall in black vote

Credit: Monica Schipper/Getty Images

The Trump campaign used sophisticated data to discourage an estimated 3.5 million black voters from going to the polls in 2016, it has been alleged.

The drop in the black turnout is seen as having been pivotal in enabling Donald Trump to win a number of swing states, including Wisconsin and Michigan.

Channel 4 News obtained a vast database compiled by the Trump campaign with personal details of nearly 200 million Americans.

Using complex algorithms, the campaign identified those whom they did want to vote — and those they wanted to stay at home.

The database was employed in 16 pivotal states, with voters being divided into eight separate categories.

Each group was then targeted with carefully tailored advertising on Facebook and other social media platforms.

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At one end of the scale were voters who were considered to be sympathetic to the Trump campaign; at the other were those who were regarded as hostile.

However, a key audience was categorised as "Deterrence", voters whom the Trump campaign wanted to dissuade from participating in the election.

According to Channel 4, 3.5 million African Americans were classified in this group.

They were targeted for negative adverts designed to weaken support for Hillary Clinton,  including a video in which the former First Lady and Secretary of State referred to black youths as "super predators".

The ad was aired 402 times on television in October 2016 as well as receiving millions of views on Facebook.

Working with the now-defunct firm Cambridge Analytica, the Trump campaign identified which voters would be most receptive to the message and stay at home on polling day.

The campaign spent $55,000 on airing the advert in Georgia, one of the pivotal states where the Republicans had most to gain by a fall in black turnout.

African Americans constituted 32 per cent of the state’s population, but 61 per cent of those were placed in the deterrence category.

It was a similar picture in other states. African Americans accounted for 22 per cent of the population in Wisconsin, but 17 per cent of those who were to be deterred from voting.

Aided by the first fall in black turnout in 20 years, Mr Trump won the state narrowly. The same was true in Michigan.

Jamal Watkins, vice president of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP)  condemned the use of digital technology to discourage blacks from voting.

The allegations were dismissed as "fake news" by Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign’s communications director.

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"President Trump has built a relationship of trust with African American voters because of the First Step Act‘s criminal justice reform, creating Opportunity Zones and his recently announced Platinum Plan to invest $500 billion in the Black community," he added.

"Democrats deterred voters in 2016 by nominating Hillary Clinton, who called Black men ‘Super Predators,’ and they did it again this year by nominating Joe Biden, who has advocated for racist policies such as the 1994 Crime Bill and even spoke at the funeral of a Klan member.”

A spokesman for Facebook, which was criticised for carrying the adverts, said the company and elections had changed over the past four years.

"We have 35,000 people working to ensure the integrity of our platform, created a political ads library… and have protected more than 200 elections worldwide. We also have rules prohibiting voter suppression and are running the largest voter information campaign in American history.”