Disinformation has been a frequent topic of concern during the 2024 U.S. election, and experts say it’s unlikely there will be an end to it anytime soon.
That’s due to what they call a “constant drip” coming not just from foreign powers but also being spread by Americans themselves.
Brandon Wales, former acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said in an interview with Global News that with some disinformation being spread on social media, it’s more difficult to stop it.
“This is the constant drip, the constant push of information into the bloodstream here in America and that in total is having a corrosive effect,” he said.
“They hope this will further divide Americans because they believe that a divided America is weaker and less able to stand up to them around the world.”
Cases like a viral video circulated on social media last week showed someone who described themselves as a Haitian immigrant claiming he voted multiple times in two Georgia counties for Democratic presidential nominee Vice-President Kamala Harris.
U.S. intelligence officials this past Friday said the video was fake and the work of “Russian influence actors,” echoing statements made by Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger on Thursday.
“This is false and is an example of targeted disinformation we’ve seen in this and other elections,” a statement from Raffensperger said. “It is likely foreign interference attempting to sow discord and chaos on the eve of the 2024 presidential election.”
Jennifer Stromer-Galley, a professor in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University, said the spread of disinformation by Americans can be more problematic than foreign powers, in part due to inaction by social media.
“Social media platforms are not monitoring and removing problematic claims on their platforms like they were in 2016 and 2020,” she said.
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“So my concern, for example, that there is disinformation circulating around the potential for voter fraud. Those kinds of claims were being monitored and either flagged on platforms as being potentially false or misleading or even removed, as well as the accounts that were circulating the information, and that’s not happening this election season.”
Though it’s not clear how much impact these disinformation campaigns can have on the election results, it can still have an effect on the overall opinion of elections.
“They are useful tools to further stoke, sow discord inside the United States,” Wales said. “To undermine the population’s trust in our institutions and our democracy and they show no signs of letting up and so the threats are more aggressive than ever when it comes to disinformation.”
Earlier this week, U.S. officials warned they had seen an unprecedented level of disinformation from foreign powers — particularly from Russia and Iran — and as this type of information spreads, experts say it’s becoming more difficult to stop it.
As recent as the day before the U.S. election, federal officials noted a recent article posted by Russian actors falsely claiming U.S. officials across presidential swing states were orchestrating a plan to commit fraud, with a video also falsely depicting an interview with an individual claiming election fraud in Arizona.
With so much disinformation circulating, Stromer-Galley said it can make it difficult for the everyday American to discern what is real and what isn’t, and what you can trust.
She said the best way for people to avoid being misled is to be knowledgeable about current events and affairs.
“That means consuming a variety of news sources and being a little skeptical when you see something that just doesn’t look quite right,” she said.
That’s not easy, however, as she notes when that information is spread by family or friends, that could “short-circuit” critical thinking skills and lead to you sharing it yourself.
The algorithms in social media don’t help either, with Wales noting if you’re politically on the right like Republicans you’re likely get more information that supports that position, and the same can be said for those on the left like Democrats.
He said it’s why people need to have a level of skepticism and look for authoritative sources, but in addition to that, more action needs to be taken by social media platforms where the information is circulating and by U.S. officials of all levels of government to expose these campaigns.
“There needs to be an even higher burden on the public to try to dig a little deeper, try to understand where the information comes from and try to figure out where you can get accurate information,” Wales said.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
