Next wave of activist lobbying: ‘Hijack’ Congress members’ Facebook profiles

Supporters of the bill have blanketed the Facebook pages of, for example, Reps. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) Sander Levin (D-Mich.), Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.).

One supporter wrote on Pence’s Facebook wall, “Please stand up for human rights, for trade that doesn’t endanger the lives of women and children.”

On Levin’s page, another supporter wrote, “Over 5 million people have died as a result of the war in Congo. Please co-sponsor HR 4128.”

The members targeted by the social media blitz are chairs and senior members of the House Foreign Affairs or Ways and Means Committees who have signaled that they are close to supporting the trade bill.

The Enough Project says the social media blitz is getting results. Boozman started following the project on Twitter and is now a co-sponsor of the bill, said the campaign’s Communications Director Jonathan Hutson.

Ros-Lehtinen told the Miami Herald she is “deeply grateful when constituents and folks who care deeply about an issue use every avenue to communicate their opinions with me.”

But there are likely members out there who aren’t so keen on having their Facebook profiles hijacked, especially during re-election campaign season. It will be interesting to see if there is any sort of backlash against this type of outreach.

Update: We’ve checked with Facebook, and blanketing a user’s profile with comments is not against the site’s terms of service.