The debate over Flock cameras in Knoxville, Tennessee, had reached a fever pitch this July when a stay-at-home mom received a text message from a nonprofit group she had never heard of.
asserted
she → reach → group
The group, Neighbors for Strong Communities, asked Ashley Smith to speak out in support of Flock’s controversial license-plate readers.
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group → ask → readers
The nonprofit even offered to use artificial intelligence to help her draft an email to public officials.
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her → offer → officials
There was only one catch: Smith, a mother of four, said she noticed that she would only be supplied with text if she indicated she supported the Flock cameras.
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she → be → cameras
Instead of offering support, Smith dashed off her own email — an outraged missive to her elected officials and a local blog outlining what she saw as an insidious PR campaign.
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she → offer → campaign
“If the interests beyond this surveillance technology will work this hard to deceive you to win a vote, what will they do with the database of our every movement?” she said.
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she → work → movement
“A company that manipulates and manufactures fake neighbors is not a company that will honor our data policies, audit logs, or the privacy of the people of Knox County.
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that → manipulate → County
The text message to Smith revealed little about the Flock campaign’s origins.
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message → reveal → origins
As it turns out, the campaign was the product of a “partnership” between Flock and a newly created nonprofit that has used similar tactics in support of the controversial proposed merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery.
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that → turn → Skydance
Opponents of the merger derided the nonprofit’s work there as corporate “astroturf” — the practice of drumming up fake grassroots support.
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Opponents → deride → support
The combination of texts and AI-generated messages fell short of swaying public officials in Knoxville.
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combination → generate → Knoxville
Last month, the county commission became the latest municipal body to vote to cancel the Flock contract.
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commission → become → contract
In both the Paramount and Flock cases, however, Neighbors for Strong Communities’s work has raised questions about what counts as truly grassroots organizing.
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what → raise → organizing
“One of the concerns of the people with the Flock cameras is: Can we trust you?” Smith told The Intercept.
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Smith → trust → Intercept
“And this sort of manipulation of people’s desires already shows that they are secretive, and they are not willing to share the honest information.”
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they → show → information
Flock and Neighbors for Strong Communities did not respond to requests for comment.
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Flock → respond → comment
On its website, the nonprofit said it had a lead role in the pro-Flock campaign.
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it → say → campaign
“Flock Safety brought experience with public safety technology.
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Safety → bring → technology
Neighbors independently designed and managed the resident-engagement campaign, helping Knox County residents share their experiences directly with local decision-makers,” the organization said.
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organization → design → makers
There are, however, no signs of a genuine upswell in grassroots support for Flock, said Craig Aaron, the co-CEO of Free Press, a nonprofit advocacy organization that is critical of both the Paramount merger and Flock.
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that → be → merger
I mean, there are no neighbors and there are no communities,” he said.
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he → mean → ?
“What makes it astroturf is the fake grassroots nature of it.”
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it → make → it
“You’re talking about literally one of the most unpopular technologies,” Aaron added, “that has people taking chainsaws to light poles because they don’t like being spied on.”
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they → talk → poles
Neighbors for Strong Communities’s text messages can look like they come from nearby.
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they → look → messages
The text Smith received about Flock cameras came from a Knoxville area code.
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Smith → receive → code
In California, residents received text messages about the Paramount merger from a Los Angeles area code.
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residents → receive → code
In both cases, residents were presented with a series of questions whose answers would, in at least some cases, be used by Neighbors for Strong Communities to draft AI-generated emails to public officials.
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answers → present → officials
Despite the area codes it sent texts from, Neighbors for Strong Communities was incorporated in Washington, D.C., in June.
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Neighbors → send → June
Although the group does not list a board or staff members on its website’s “About” page, its incorporation papers show that its directors include several political consultants, including at least one former registered lobbyist.
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directors → list → lobbyist
At least two directors at Neighbors for Strong Communities also helped found Influent, a company that uses AI to generate letters to elected officials.
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that → find → officials
Text messages to Knoxville residents linked to a URL with the word “influent” in the address.
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messages → link → address
(Influent did not respond to a request for comment.)
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Influent → respond → comment
The page on Neighbors for Strong Communities’s website dedicated to Knox County features an image of a man with six fingers — a rare condition that is also a hallmark of AI-generated imagery.
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that → dedicate → imagery
The page says Flock’s supporters are “real people.”
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supporters → say → ?
Smith said she was confused to receive the text message from Neighbors for Strong Communities, which she had never heard of despite her long involvement in local politics.
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she → say → politics
In its message to her, the group seemed to play up a local connection.
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group → seem → connection
“Knox County Neighbors for Strong Communities is asking local residents to speak up in support of responsible license plate readers with strong privacy protections before the vote on Monday,” the text message said.
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message → ask → Monday
“Answer 2 quick questions and we’ll help you generate a personalized message urging local leaders to support this practical public safety tool.”
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you → answer → tool
She filled out the form from Neighbors for Strong Communities twice, at first indicating her opposition to license-plate reader cameras, she said.
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she → fill → cameras
Only on the second attempt, when she pretended that she supported the cameras, was she given the draft of an email to her county commissioners.
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she → pretend → commissioners
…and 75 more, not listed.
The Aporia
