President Clinton warned: 'The right wing has seized upon the internet'

In the mid-’90s, President Bill Clinton received a report about the Internet, or as the report puts it, the “Communication Stream of Conspiracy Commerce.” In particular, the report warns of the growing influence of the GOP online:

The internet has become one of the major and most dynamic modes of communication. The internet can link people, groups and organizations together instantly. Moreover, it allows an extraordinary amount of unregulated data and information to be located in one area and available to all. The right wing has seized upon the internet as a means of communicating its ideas to people. Moreover, evidence exists that Republican staffers surf the internet, interacting with extremists in order to exchange ideas and information.

The report, available from the Clinton Library,  also details the “media food chain,” part of which relies on leaking stories to British tabloids, which are then picked up by American news media. Of concern: Paula Jones, Whitewater, Gennifer Flowers, Sally Perdue, the Arkansas state troopers and other products of the “right-wing media conspiracy theory industry.”

"Evidence exists that Republican staffers surf the internet." –Bill Clinton's White House, circa 1995 http://t.co/uRRVO1Fucy

— Mashable (@mashable) April 18, 2014

Newly released Clinton era memo about "vast right-wing conspiracy" using internet. Tweet on, patriots! pic.twitter.com/PZl0mQ6Wn0" #tcot #waar

— Corky (@corkysez) April 18, 2014