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Detecting Astroturf Lobbying Movements

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Detecting Astroturf Lobbying Movements CTP0010.1177/2057047320969435Communication and the PublicLits 969435research-article2020 Original Research Article Communication and the Public 2020, Vol. 5(3-4) 164 –177 © The Author(s) 2020 Detecting astroturf lobbying Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions movements DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/2057047320969435 10.1177/2057047320969435 journals.sagepub.com/home/ctp Brieuc Lits Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Abstract Astroturf lobbying refers to the simulation of grassroots support for or against a public policy. The objective of this tactic is for private interests to pretend they have public support for their cause. However, omitting to disclose the real sponsor of a message renders the communication unauthentic and undermines democratic and pluralist values. This article seeks to develop a method to detect astroturf movements based on emphasis framing analysis. The hypothesis is that astroturf groups employ different frames than genuine grassroots movements to comply with the private interests they truly represent. The results of the case study on the shale gas exploration debate in the United States show that astroturf groups used frames that differed significantly from authentic non-governmental organizations, which allowed their detection. Keywords Astroturfing, framing, grassroots, interest groups, lobbying The term lobbying is often associated with a pejora- is to simulate citizen support for or against a public tive connotation in the eyes of the public (McGrath, policy. This process has been coined astroturfing as 2005). This can be explained by the numerous cases it refers to the manufacturing of grassroots move- where lobbyists have used illegal or unethical strate- ments. Due to the concealed identity of the true gies to exert influence on policymakers. Nonetheless, sponsor of such movements, astroturfing represents when following the letter of the law, lobbying is a threat to democratic and pluralist values. Indeed, legal and is an accepted activity in democracy. when designing or revising pieces of legislation, Milbrath (1960) depicted lobbying as a communica- policymakers supposedly tend to support policies tion process, as an exchange of information between that have broad support in the population, or at least governments and interest groups, here understood as in their constituencies. By masking their true iden- a wide variety of organizations ranging from busi- tity, astroturf movements can lead a policymaker to ness groups to nonprofits. In light of the resource- exchange theory, the purpose of interest groups is thus to provide lawmakers with expert information Corresponding author: Brieuc Lits, Department of Information and Communication regarding an issue to gain access to and influence the Sciences, Université libre de Bruxelles, Avenue F. D. Roosevelt decision-making process (Bouwen, 2004). Interest 50/CP 123, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. groups have different options to do so. One of them Email: [email protected] Lits 165 overestimate private interests over public interests. while it is actually sponsored anonymously by cor- The purpose of this article is to suggest an innovative porate interests. method allowing the detection of astroturf groups Yet, this phenomenon is not limited to political and therefore helping to render public debates and purposes and can take many different forms. It can policy-making processes more transparent. refer to the fact of buying fake followers on Twitter, This article is divided into four sections. The first posting positive comments under a false identity on one presents a literature review of astroturfing. There Tripadvisor, paying citizens to demonstrate in the is a growing body of literature devoted to the phe- street, creating front groups with misleading names, nomenon, but few studies are suggesting methods to and the list goes on. Astroturf efforts have been stud- detect astroturf movements (Keller et al., 2019). The ied from different fields: computer sciences second section develops the methodology that is (Ratkiewicz et al., 2011), economics (Lyon & based on emphasis framing analysis. The underlying Maxwell, 2004), ethics (Bowen, 2013), political assumption is that astroturf groups frame an issue communication (Lits, 2019a), public relations differently than genuine grassroots movements. The (Sisson, 2017), psychology (Cho et al., 2011), and third section summarizes the results of the case sociology (Walker, 2014) notably. Consequently, study. The research design includes a quantitative many definitions of astroturfing exist. Two research- text analysis of documents published by 72 interest ers have strived to suggest a comprehensive defini- groups active on the hydraulic fracturing debate in tion that could be applied when astroturfing is used the United States. The last section paves the way for either for political or commercial purposes. Berkman a discussion about the threat of astroturf lobbying in (2008) defined it as “an attempt by an organization democratic societies. group to spread a predetermined message, but to do so in a manner that makes each message appear Astroturfing and astroturf authentic and original” (p. 7). Boulay’s (2012) defi- lobbying nition is even more systematic as she identified two criteria to qualify a campaign or a movement as Researchers from various fields have contributed to astroturf. According to her, “astroturfing is a com- the current knowledge of astroturfing. However, it munication strategy whose true source is hidden, and appears that the term itself does not always designate that pretends to emanate from a citizens’ initiative” the same reality. Depending on the field of research (p. 61). or on the geographical and political context, differ- Building on the latter definition and applying it to ent meanings coexist. political settings, astroturf lobbying refers to the It is only in 1986 that Lloyd Bentsen, then Senator simulation of citizen support for political purposes. of Texas, coined the term astroturfing to describe a This strategy is not new. Astroturf lobbying is remi- manufactured public relations campaign. His staff niscent of old propaganda techniques and appeared had received an unusually high number of letters long before the term was coined by Bentsen. from citizens who expressed their concerns about a However, the 1960s saw astroturf lobbying taking new policy proposal aiming to regulate the liquor off. One of the reasons behind that is the explosion business. However, it appeared that these public let- of citizen groups at that time in the US political ters actually originated from the liquor industry arena. Those advocacy groups gained momentum itself. The Senator tried to reassure its constituency with symbolic wins on issues such as civil rights or by saying he was able to “tell the difference between the protests against the Vietnam War. Those organi- grassroots and AstroTurf” (Walker, 2014, p. 33). zations often started as spontaneous grassroots Bentsen cleverly qualified this fake grassroots move- movements and gained legitimacy in the political ment as astroturfing in reference to the brand of syn- landscape. Their success attracted some attention thetic grass AstroTurf. Originally, astroturfing thus from business groups who would have loved to gain refers to a communication campaign pretending to the same respect and legitimacy as these movements. emanate spontaneously from concerned citizens As Berry (1993) phrased it, 166 Communication and the Public 5(3-4) most business groups would love to have the respect Australian government’s stand on carbon emissions. that these citizen groups command in the press. For all The rally was actually organized by the National the financial strength at the disposal of oil lobbyists, no Road Freighters Association but presented itself as a representative of the oil industry has as much credibility genuine citizen movement. In Europe, Laurens with the public as a lobbyist for the Natural Resources (2015) has published a paper after following the set- Defense Council. (pp. 35–36) ting up of an astroturf group from the inside. He explained from a sociological perspective how the First scholarly work about the astroturf lobbying evolution of the European political structures and the started to really emerge in the 1990s under the impe- tus of Stauber and Rampton (1995) and Beder need for the European institutions to regain trust (1998). Even though they do not explicitly use the from their citizens lead businesses to try and legiti- term, they shed light on the damn lies that are some- mate their actions through front groups to feed that times used by the public relations industry. Among need of institutional legitimacy. The presence of them, the setting up of front groups and the publica- astroturf groups in Europe has also been studied by tion of scientific reports written by controversial Lits (in press) who showed how the oil and gas expert groups are examples of creative strategies industry deployed an astroturf campaign to influence created to influence public policy outcomes. two specific reports of the European Parliament. Interestingly, McNutt and Boland (2007) The rationale behind astroturfing is for private observed that environmental issues are more likely actors to find an alternate way to convey their mes- to be targeted by astroturfers. The research con- sages with more credibility. The goal is to capture ducted by Cho et al. (2011) supports this assump- the voice of civil society in political debates. In this
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