A Facebook search for the words \u201celection fraud\u201d first delivers an article claiming that workers at a Pennsylvania children\u2019s museum are brainwashing children so they\u2019ll accept stolen elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Facebook\u2019s second suggestion? A link to an article from a site called MAGA Underground that says Democrats are plotting to rig next month\u2019s midterms. \u201cYou should still be mad as hell about\u00a0the fraud that happened in 2020,\u201d the article insists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With less than three weeks before the polls close,\u00a0misinformation\u00a0about voting and elections abounds on social media despite promises by tech companies to address a problem blamed for increasing\u00a0polarization\u00a0and\u00a0distrust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While platforms like\u00a0Twitter, TikTok, Facebook\u00a0and YouTube say they\u2019ve expanded their work to detect and stop harmful claims that could suppress the vote or even lead to\u00a0violent confrontations, a review of some of the sites shows they\u2019re still playing catch-up with 2020, when then-President\u00a0Donald Trump\u2019s lies\u00a0about\u00a0the election he lost to Joe Biden\u00a0helped fuel\u00a0an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou would think that they would have\u00a0learned by now,\u201d said Heidi Beirich, founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism and a member of a group called the Real Facebook Oversight Board that has criticized the platform\u2019s efforts. \u201cThis isn\u2019t their first election. This should have been addressed before Trump lost in 2020. The damage is pretty deep at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If these U.S.-based tech giants can\u2019t properly prepare for a U.S. election, how can anyone expect them to handle\u00a0overseas elections, Beirich said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mentions of a \u201c\u00a0stolen election\u00a0\u201d and \u201cvoter fraud\u201d have soared in recent months and are now two of the three most popular terms included in discussions of this year\u2019s election, according to an analysis of social media, online and broadcast content conducted by media intelligence firm Zignal Labs on behalf of The Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On\u00a0Twitter, Zignal\u2019s analysis found that tweets amplifying conspiracy theories about the upcoming election have been reposted many thousands of times, alongside posts restating debunked claims about the 2020 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most major platforms have announced steps intended to curb misinformation about voting and elections, including\u00a0labels,\u00a0warnings\u00a0and changes to systems that automatically recommend certain content. Users who consistently violate the rules can be suspended. Platforms have also created partnerships with fact-checking organizations and\u00a0news outlets like the AP, which is part of Meta\u2019s fact-checking program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur teams continue to monitor the midterms closely, working to quickly remove content that violates our policies,\u201d YouTube said in a statement. \u201cWe\u2019ll stay vigilant ahead of, during, and after Election Day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meta, the owner of\u00a0Facebook\u00a0and Instagram, announced this week that it had reopened its\u00a0election command center, which oversees real-time efforts to combat misinformation about elections. The company dismissed criticism that it\u2019s\u00a0not doing enough\u00a0and denied reports that it has cut the number of staffers focused on elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are investing a significant amount of resources, with work spanning more than 40 teams and hundreds of people,\u201d Meta said in a statement emailed to the AP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The platform also said that starting this week, anyone who searches on Facebook using keywords related to the election, including \u201celection fraud,\u201d will automatically see a pop-up window with links to trustworthy voting resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TikTok created an election center earlier this year to help voters in the U.S. learn how to register to vote and who\u2019s on their ballot. The information is offered in English, Spanish and more than 45 other languages. The platform, now\u00a0a leading source of information for young voters, also adds labels to\u00a0misleading content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cProviding access to authoritative information is an important part of our overall strategy to counter election misinformation,\u201d the company said of its efforts to prepare for the midterms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But policies intended to stop\u00a0harmful misinformation about elections\u00a0aren\u2019t always enforced consistently. False claims can often be buried deep in the\u00a0comments section, for instance, where they nonetheless can leave an impression on other users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A report released last month from New York University faulted Meta, Twitter,\u00a0TikTok\u00a0and\u00a0YouTube\u00a0for amplifying\u00a0Trump\u2019s false statements\u00a0about\u00a0the 2020 election. The study cited inconsistent rules regarding misinformation as well as poor\u00a0enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Concerned about the amount of misinformation\u00a0about voting and elections, a number of groups have urged tech companies to do more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAmericans deserve more than\u00a0lip service and half-measures\u00a0from the platforms,\u201d said Yosef Getachew, director of Common Cause\u2019s media and democracy program. \u201cThese platforms have been weaponized by enemies of democracy, both foreign and domestic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Election misinformation is even more prevalent on smaller platforms popular with some conservatives and far-right groups like Gab, Gettr and TruthSocial, Trump\u2019s own platform. But those sites have tiny audiences compared with Facebook, YouTube or TikTok.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beirich\u2019s group, the Real Facebook Oversight Board, crafted a list of seven recommendations for Meta intended to reduce the spread of misinformation ahead of the elections. They included changes to the platform that would promote content from legitimate news outlets over partisan sites that often spread misinformation, as well as greater attention on misinformation\u00a0targeting voters in Spanish\u00a0and other languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meta told the AP it has expanded its fact-checking network since 2020 and now has twice as many Spanish-language fact checkers. The company also launched a Spanish-language fact-checking tip line on WhatsApp, another platform it owns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Much of the misinformation aimed at\u00a0non-English speakers\u00a0seems aimed at suppressing their vote, said Brenda Victoria Castillo, CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, who said that the efforts by Facebook and other platforms aren\u2019t equal to the scale of the problem posed by misinformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are being lied to and discouraged from exercising our right to vote,\u201d Castillo said. \u201cAnd people in power, people like (Meta CEO)\u00a0Mark Zuckerberg\u00a0are doing very little while they\u00a0profit from the disinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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