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{{Short description|Online political community}}
[[Image:democraticunderground.gif|left|DU logo]]
{{Use American English|date=October 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Democratic Underground
| location_city = United States
| url = {{URL|https://www.democraticunderground.com}}
| launch_date = {{start date and age|2001|1|20}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://whois.domaintools.com/democraticunderground.com|title=DemocraticUnderground.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info - DomainTools|work=[[WHOIS]]|access-date=2016-08-14}}</ref>
}}


'''Democratic Underground''' is an [[virtual community|online community]] for members of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|United States Democratic Party]]. Its membership is restricted by policy to those who are supportive of the Democratic Party and Democratic candidates for political office.<ref name="duenforcerules">{{cite web|title=Terms of Service|website=Democratic Underground|url=https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=termsofservice|access-date=2012-10-08 }}</ref>
{{TOCright}}


== History ==
'''Democratic Underground''', or simply '''DU''' to its members, is a [[Liberalism in the United States|liberal]]/[[Progressivism|progressive]] [[virtual community|online community]] established on [[January 20]], [[2001]], the day [[President of the United States|President]] [[George W. Bush]] took office. DU rules state: "Democratic Underground is an online community for [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] and other progressives. Members are expected to be generally supportive of progressive ideals, and to support Democratic candidates for political office."
{{Recentism|section|date=February 2023}}

{{Expand section|date=October 2020}}
Since its inception, over 76,000 forum accounts have been created with over 50,000 still remaining active. Almost 18 million messages have been posted. Membership and participation are free, although voluntary donations are solicited, and some services are available only to donating members. DU [[Desktop publishing|publishes]] articles six days a week and has an online store, a directory of links, and [[Internet forum|forums]] where logged-in members may post on various topics of interest.
On Election Day 2016, the forum was hacked and rendered unavailable, which the site blamed on pro-Trump trolls.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/11/10/democrat_site_blames_pro_trump_hackers/|title=Left-wing cyber-hangout blames security breach on pro-Trump trolls|last=Leyden|first=John|date=10 November 2016|website=[[The Register]]|language=en-UK|access-date=2020-04-23}}</ref>


==Features of Democratic Underground==

===Columns===

DU has several regular [[column|columns]], and on any given day may have a number of guest columns sent in from contributors.

* Mondays: [http://www.democraticunderground.com/top10/index.html Top Ten Conservative Idiots], a rundown of the most outrageous [[right-wing politics|right-wing]] activities in the past week, according to the DU administrators.
* Wednesdays: [http://www.democraticunderground.com/plaidder/index.html The Plaid Adder] writes her column.
* Thursdays: [http://www.democraticunderground.com/auntie/index.html Ask Auntie Pinko], an 'advice' column.
* Fridays: [http://www.democraticunderground.com/bob/index.html Equal Time with Bob Boudelang], a [[satire|satirical]] column supposedly written by a [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] Team Leader.
* Occasionally, DU will feature a [http://www.democraticunderground.com/mail/index.html Hate Mailbag] of [[hate mail]].

Bernard Weiner and Ernest Partridge of ''The Crisis Papers''[http://www.crisispapers.org/] are frequent guests.

===Forums===

The DU Forums are a highly active scene for political discussions by "Democrats and other progressives". To maintain the desired atmosphere in the forums, the administrators will sometimes "[[Headstone|tombstone]]" (ban) users for violating site policies, such as [http://www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules_detailed.html these]:

<blockquote>We ban [[Conservatism|conservative]] disruptors who are opposed to the broad goals of this website. If you think overall that George W. Bush is doing a swell job, or if you wish to see Republicans win, or if you are generally supportive of conservative ideals, please do not register to post, as you will likely be banned.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Do not publicly accuse another member of this message board of being a disruptor, conservative, Republican, FReeper, or troll, or do not otherwise imply they are not welcome on Democratic Underground. If you think someone is a disruptor, click the "Alert" link below their post to let the moderators know.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Have a thick skin. Please be aware that just because you consider a post to be offensive does not mean that it is against the rules or bigoted. As a general rule of thumb, posts about ideas are generally okay, but posts about groups of people are often inappropriate.</blockquote>

The main forums on DU have been re-arranged since the close of the 2004 US election season. They now include:

* Latest Breaking News
* [[Editorial]]s and Other Articles
* General Discussion
* General Discussion: [[Politics]] (superseding "General Discussion: Campaign 2004")
* The Lounge (for general non-political discussion)

Other forums include:

* Individual forums for the discussion of state and local issues.
* Individual forums for the discussion of certain political topics such as education, homeland security, and guns.
* Individual forums for the discussion of certain relatively non-political topics such as books, science, and sports.
* "Group" forums where chartered groups of users may discuss topics of mutual interest such as hobbies, fan clubs, and potential [[U.S. presidential election, 2008|2008 presidential candidates]].

An "Ask the Administrators" forum was maintained until [[April 26]], [[2005]]; this forum allowed users to pose questions to the board administrators. This forum has now been shut down by the administrators, who felt that the forum was being used as a medium for people for to issue complaint after complaint, with the nature of their complaints being inflammatory. A "Rules" page, a "Frequently Asked Questions" page, and a "Contact the Administrators" page showing the email addresses of the administrators have been substituted.

Two of the most controversial forums are often scenes of hot debate between posters:
* The Justice/Public Safety board, used for discussing [[Gun politics|gun]] issues and commonly referred to as the "Gun Dungeon" or "Gungeon"; and
* The [[Israel]]-[[Palestinian]] affairs board, sometimes referred to as the "Basement."

===Campaign Underground===

DU has an online [[Political campaign|campaign]] headquarters named "Campaign Underground." The site, which was put together with help from DU members, features a database of information about campaigns, voting trends, and media. A "media blaster" feature provides the ability to email local media outlets in many [[United States|U.S.]] cities. Eventually DU hopes to have other features, such as integrated local news from the forums, a local event calendar, and other issues specific to states and locals.

===Demopedia===

On [[December 7]], [[2004]], DU launched the [[Development stage|beta version]] of Demopedia, a [[wiki]] based collaborative project aimed at presenting the Democratic and [[progressive]] opinion and outlook, and at collating and preserving some of the information generated on the forums. During the beta, only users who had registered at DU before December 7 were able to contribute. It uses the [[MediaWiki]] software.

===Member avatars===

Registered members can select an [[Avatar (virtual reality)|avatar]] that will be displayed along with each of their postings. For donating members, this avatar can be a custom [[image]] that they have supplied; non-donating members can choose from a set of standard images that include popular symbols, images of political figures or [[popular culture]] figures, and state outlines, state flags, and a few national flags. These avatars allow users to show some of their personality with each posting.

After the [[U.S. presidential election, 2004|2004 election]], many members displayed an upside-down American flag as their avatar; an inverted flag is an international symbol of distress.

==Ideology==

Although DU restricts its postings to people on the political left, members have many internal disagreements over a wide range of issues, as well as disagreements over tactics of opposition to the Bush Administration. Nearly all members oppose the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]], but some DU members favor only a gradual withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, while other members favor an immediate and total pullout. Some members favor the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]], while a majority do not. Another such issue is [[gun politics]]; DU participants include supporters and opponents of further restrictions on gun ownership.

While supporters of [[Ralph Nader]] are a distinct minority at DU, many posts criticize the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] from the left. Democrats such as [[Joe Lieberman]] and [[Dianne Feinstein]], who are more inclined toward compromise and conciliation with the Bush Administration, are regularly attacked at DU, while Democrats such as [[John Conyers]] and [[Barbara Boxer]], who favor a more confrontational approach, are more highly regarded.

==Activism==

DUers are active in US politics in many ways. Sometimes DUers in different parts of the country meet at DU gatherings in certain cities. DUers have also been known to attend political protests and rallies, volunteer for campaigns, and write letters to editors of newspapers and members of Congress.

===Activist Corps===

One of the newest ways in which DUers are involved is called the DU Activist Corps. Founded on [[July 1]], [[2005]], the Activist Corps is a group of over 1,000 DUers who are committed to taking action on a certain issue whenever an official Activist Corps activity is posted.

The first Activist Corps action was posted on [[July 12]]; members wrote letters to the editors of local newspapers regarding [[Karl Rove]]'s role in the leaking of [[CIA]] agent [[Valerie Plame]]'s name. More than 70 letters were published in newspapers throughout the country. Other Corps activities have included signing online[[petition]]s to [[United States Senate|U.S. Senators]] asking them to reject [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] nominee [[John G. Roberts, Jr.]], and to write letters of support [[Cindy Sheehan]].

===Political candidates===

Some DUers have run for, and have even been elected to, political offices as high as [[Congress of the United States|Congress]]. Examples of these include:

* Herb Riede, the mayor-elect of [[McSherrystown, Pennsylvania]];
* Monica McGlocklin, a three-term former member of the [[Maine House of Representatives]];
* Elizabeth Rogers, Congressman [[J.D. Hayworth]]'s opponent in the [[U.S. House election, 2004|2004 election]];
* Jeff Seemann, Congressman [[Ralph Regula]]'s opponent in the [[U.S. House election, 2004|2004 election]]; (In an ironic twist, during his campaign, Seemann was banned from DU as a disruptor even though he was the Democratic Party's candidate for his Congressional district.)
* Justin Sowa, Congressman [[Paul Ryan]]'s potential opponent in the [[U.S. House election, 2006|2006 election]]; and
* The late Andy Stephenson, a voting-reform activist who ran against Sam Reed for [[Washington]] Secretary of State in [[2004]].

==Notable members==

Several notable figures have posted in the forums at some point. Among those who have been verified as not being [[hoax]]es are:

* [[Wes Clark, Jr.]], the son of [[Wesley Clark]];
* [[John Conyers]], member of the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] from [[Michigan]];
* [[Elizabeth Edwards]], the wife of [[John Edwards]];
* [[Christopher Heinz]], a son of [[Teresa Heinz Kerry]]; and
* [[Fister]], sexworker rights activist, webmaster of [http://www.whiterosesociety.org/ The White Rose Society].
* [[William Rivers Pitt]], liberal activist, [[author]], and former managing editor of Truthout.org.

==Owners==

The website is owned by Democratic Underground, LLC (a [[limited liability company]]), which is in turn owned by David Allen of Washington, D.C. He goes by the [[user name|username]] "Skinner" while on the boards and handles most of the issues relating to the forums. The other two administrators, "EarlG" (of Washington, D.C.) and "elad" (of Chicago), handle the articles and technical issues, respectively.


==Criticism==
==Criticism==
Discussions from posters at DU have drawn criticism. One example of this was the dialog about the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake|2004 tsunami disaster]], in which a few posts explored the possibility of "[[tectonic weapon|earthquake weapons]]". The posts were reported on by ''[[The New York Times]]''<ref name="nytsuenammy">{{cite web|last=Schwartz|first=John|title=Myths Run Wild in Blog Tsunami Debate|website=[[The New York Times]]|date=2005-01-03|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/03/world/worldspecial4/myths-run-wild-in-blog-tsunami-debate.html|access-date=2007-05-02}}</ref> and [[Fox News]].<ref name="foxnewsdisaster">{{cite web|last=Hume|first=Brit|author-link=Brit Hume|title=Disaster's Cause?|website=[[Fox News]]|date=2005-01-04|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/disasters-cause|access-date=2007-05-02}}</ref> An administrator also sent a letter to the ''Times'', which was printed.<ref name="lettertonyt">{{cite web|last=Washington|first=David Allen|date=January 10, 2005|title=Online Debate Forums|website=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/10/opinion/online-debate-forums-090700.html}}</ref>


The site also saw criticism when, in 2003, a poster explained why they wished to see continued bloodshed in Iraq.<ref name="demsgonewild">{{cite news| last=Taranto|first=James|title=Dems Gone Wild--III|publisher=[[Opinion Journal]]|date =2003-11-05|url=http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110004262|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080526154756/http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110004262|archive-date=May 26, 2008}}</ref>
As with any politically charged website, there are many charges made against Democratic Underground from the political Left and the Right and the Middle.


==Copyright infringement lawsuit==
===From the middle===
{{main|Righthaven LLC v. Democratic Underground LLC}}


In 2010, Democratic Underground was sued for alleged copyright infringement in a member's posting of a few paragraphs from an article in the ''[[Las Vegas Review-Journal]]''. The suit was brought by [[Righthaven LLC|Righthaven]], an entity that finds ''Review-Journal'' quotations online, buys the copyright for that story from the newspaper, and retroactively sues for copyright infringement.<ref>{{Cite news | last = Green| first = Steve| title = Righthaven sues Democratic Underground website over R-J posting| newspaper = [[Las Vegas Sun]]| location = [[Las Vegas, Nevada]] | date = August 11, 2010| url = http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/aug/11/righthaven-sues-democratic-underground-website-ove/| access-date = 2010-10-08}}</ref> In response to the lawsuit, DU asserted that the quoted excerpt (five sentences of a 54-sentence article) was [[fair use]], and counterclaimed against Righthaven for [[fraud]], [[Barratry (common law)|barratry]], and [[champerty]].<ref name="counterclaim">{{Cite news | last = Green| first = Steve| title = R-J owner faces counterclaim in copyright lawsuit campaign| newspaper = Las Vegas Sun| location = Las Vegas, Nevada| date = September 28, 2010| url = http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/sep/28/r-j-owner-faces-counterclaim-copyright-lawsuit-cam/ | access-date = 2010-10-08}}</ref> DU is being represented in the case ''[[pro bono]]'' by the [[Electronic Frontier Foundation]], attorneys from the firm of [[Winston & Strawn]], and Las Vegas attorney Chad Bowers.<ref name="counterclaim"/> After Righthaven lost a similar suit against [[Realty One Group]] over 8 of 30 sentences quoted from a news article, Righthaven asked the judge in the case against Democratic Underground to dismiss Righthaven's claim against DU.<ref name="wired">{{Cite news | last = Kravets| first = David| title = Righthaven Says It Will Stop Suing Over News Excerpts| newspaper = [[Wired.com]], Threat Level| date = 18 Nov 2010| url = https://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/11/righthaven/ }}</ref>
Any criticism of a site Administrator or a Moderator, or their actions, will likely result in the unilateral "banning" of that member without prior notice, explanation or response to later inquiries regarding the taking of such action. While progressive, democratic principles are promoted by those who visit and post there, the administrative policy implemented by the site owner is not in keeping with the traditional democratic ideals of promoting free speech, due process, and appeal rights . As a private site, implementation of administrative policies which include preemptive deletion of posts, and unilateral "banning" of member posters without explanation, are legal. However, it is questionable if the posts allowed to appear at this site represent a fair cross-section of the opinions held by all registered participating members.


On June 14, 2011, Judge [[Roger L. Hunt]] ruled that Righthaven be dismissed from the case because Righthaven had never owned the copyright of the article and gave Righthaven two weeks to explain in writing why it should not be sanctioned.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eff.org/press/archives/2011/06/14|title=Righthaven Copyright Troll Lawsuit Dismissed as Sham EFF Press Releases|date=June 14, 2011|website=[[Electronic Frontier Foundation]]}}</ref>


===From the left===
==References==
{{Reflist}}

Critics of the site allege that the site administrators and moderators are biased against, and unfairly ban ("tombstone") or [[censorship|censor]], posters who consider themselves to be to the political [[Left-wing politics|left]] of [[John Kerry]], the [[2004]] [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[nominee]] for the US presidency. Some critics are affiliated with the [[People for Change]] forums, which were founded by [[Howard Dean]] supporters who felt alienated from Democratic Underground during the contentious primary season; many of these posters had been banned or were later banned from the Democratic Underground forums.

These people claim that DU is not truly [[liberal]] or [[Progressivism|progressive]], but rather [[centrist]]. In particular, many members claim that the moderators of the [[Israeli-Palestinian conflict|Israel-Palestinian]] forums enforce an anti-[[Palestinian]] bias or adhere too strongly to the politics of the centrist [[Democratic Leadership Council]] (DLC).

A recent internal [[poll]] showed 14% of DUers would vote for [[John McCain]] if he ran against [[Hillary Clinton]] while 33% would vote for [[Hugo Chavez]]. Democratic Underground has also been accused of banning pro-Hillary Clinton posters, thus in opposition to views of many Democrats.

===From the right===

Conservatives/right-wingers often criticize Democratic Underground for removing comments and banning users who don't fit the site's left-wing stance. Supporters of Democratic Underground respond that the site is clear about its orientation, in contrast to some conservative websites, such as Lucianne.com, which claim to be open to all views but purge disagreeing posts.

Because most of the site's forums can be posted-to by anyone who has registered at the site, outlandish postings by some members are occasionally held up as an example of what the forum's membership believes as a whole. One example of this was the dialog about the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake|2004 tsunami disaster]], in which a few posts suggested some conspiracy at work; while the threads were eventually locked and publicly disavowed by the site's administrators, the postings in question were reported by ''[[The New York Times]]'' and [[Fox News]].


==External links==
==External links==
* [https://www.democraticunderground.com Democratic Underground homepage]
*[https://www.facebook.com/democraticunderground/ Democratic Underground] on [[Facebook]]
*[https://twitter.com/demunderground Democratic Underground] on [[Twitter]]


[[Category:Internet properties established in 2001]]
* [http://www.democraticunderground.com Democratic Underground Homepage]
[[Category:Political Internet forums]]
* [http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/ DU Forums]
[[Category:American political blogs]]
* [http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/ DU Demopedia]
* [http://www.democraticunderground.com/cu Campaign Underground]
* [http://dummiefunnies.blogspot.com/ DUmmie FUnnies] - conservative satire of DU

[[Category:Internet forums]]

Latest revision as of 12:14, 1 October 2024

Democratic Underground
Headquarters
United States
URLwww.democraticunderground.com
LaunchedJanuary 20, 2001; 23 years ago (2001-01-20)[1]

Democratic Underground is an online community for members of the United States Democratic Party. Its membership is restricted by policy to those who are supportive of the Democratic Party and Democratic candidates for political office.[2]

History

[edit]

On Election Day 2016, the forum was hacked and rendered unavailable, which the site blamed on pro-Trump trolls.[3]

Criticism

[edit]

Discussions from posters at DU have drawn criticism. One example of this was the dialog about the 2004 tsunami disaster, in which a few posts explored the possibility of "earthquake weapons". The posts were reported on by The New York Times[4] and Fox News.[5] An administrator also sent a letter to the Times, which was printed.[6]

The site also saw criticism when, in 2003, a poster explained why they wished to see continued bloodshed in Iraq.[7]

[edit]
Main article: Righthaven LLC v. Democratic Underground LLC

In 2010, Democratic Underground was sued for alleged copyright infringement in a member's posting of a few paragraphs from an article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The suit was brought by Righthaven, an entity that finds Review-Journal quotations online, buys the copyright for that story from the newspaper, and retroactively sues for copyright infringement.[8] In response to the lawsuit, DU asserted that the quoted excerpt (five sentences of a 54-sentence article) was fair use, and counterclaimed against Righthaven for fraud, barratry, and champerty.[9] DU is being represented in the case pro bono by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, attorneys from the firm of Winston & Strawn, and Las Vegas attorney Chad Bowers.[9] After Righthaven lost a similar suit against Realty One Group over 8 of 30 sentences quoted from a news article, Righthaven asked the judge in the case against Democratic Underground to dismiss Righthaven's claim against DU.[10]

On June 14, 2011, Judge Roger L. Hunt ruled that Righthaven be dismissed from the case because Righthaven had never owned the copyright of the article and gave Righthaven two weeks to explain in writing why it should not be sanctioned.[11]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "DemocraticUnderground.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info - DomainTools". WHOIS. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  2. ^ "Terms of Service". Democratic Underground. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  3. ^ Leyden, John (November 10, 2016). "Left-wing cyber-hangout blames security breach on pro-Trump trolls". The Register. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  4. ^ Schwartz, John (January 3, 2005). "Myths Run Wild in Blog Tsunami Debate". The New York Times. Retrieved May 2, 2007.
  5. ^ Hume, Brit (January 4, 2005). "Disaster's Cause?". Fox News. Retrieved May 2, 2007.
  6. ^ Washington, David Allen (January 10, 2005). "Online Debate Forums". The New York Times.
  7. ^ Taranto, James (November 5, 2003). "Dems Gone Wild--III". Opinion Journal. Archived from the original on May 26, 2008.
  8. ^ Green, Steve (August 11, 2010). "Righthaven sues Democratic Underground website over R-J posting". Las Vegas Sun. Las Vegas, Nevada. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
  9. ^ a b Green, Steve (September 28, 2010). "R-J owner faces counterclaim in copyright lawsuit campaign". Las Vegas Sun. Las Vegas, Nevada. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
  10. ^ Kravets, David (November 18, 2010). "Righthaven Says It Will Stop Suing Over News Excerpts". Wired.com, Threat Level.
  11. ^ "Righthaven Copyright Troll Lawsuit Dismissed as Sham EFF Press Releases". Electronic Frontier Foundation. June 14, 2011.
[edit]
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