Advocates take on voter disinformation ahead of November elections

23rd September 2024   ·   0 Comments

By Benjamin Barber
Contributing Writer

(Special from Facing South) — The sharp increase in online disinformation since 2016 has been challenging for local, state, or national electoral institutions. Efforts to mislead voters are a constant threat to our democracy – and new technologies have made disinformation easier to produce and more difficult to catch. This surge of misleading and distorted voting information in the lead-up to the November elections includes the use of robocalls and AI-generated voices and pictures and has disproportionately affected communities of color. This raises concerns about its potential impact on voter turnout – and the decisions voters make at the polls, in presidential and other elections.

Disinformation-based voter suppression is not new in the South, but the emergence of innovative technologies has added harmful burdens for already marginalized groups of voters. These suppressive efforts are increasing as communities of color have grown in political power. Right-wing lawmakers have weaponized disinformation by deploying allegations of widespread election fraud to stoke distrust in the U.S. electoral system and to sell policies that suppress the vote to their advantage.

Many of these tactics have roots in Jim Crow-era efforts to disenfranchise people of color through blatant voter intimidation strategies. New technologies have brought further systematic attempts to suppress voters of color through “racialized disinformation” via mailing, robocalls, and other forms of mass communication. Digital disinformation strategies against communities of color surged during the 2016 and 2020 presidential election cycles. And disinformation activity has intensified ahead of this year’s November election.

Advocates across the U.S., especially in the South, are organizing for what they believe will be even more concentrated and strategic efforts to mislead voters ahead of the 2024 general election. These efforts include AI-generated voices that mimic the voices of public figures and disseminate false information. A report from Onyx Impact, a nonprofit organization dedicated to combating disinformation within the Black community, found that election disinformation could reach more than 40 million Americans within Black online spaces. Much of this disinformation is fueled by far-right activists.

Combating Disinformation
Local boards of elections are responsible for countering misleading information about elections. However, these entities are often overworked and underfunded, which forces voting rights organizations to spend resources and time combating voting disinformation. Democracy advocates are now working to counter disinformation efforts impacting the presidential contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Pro-democracy organizations are increasing their outreach to vulnerable communities to ensure that voters understand the dangers of disinformation and taking a multifaceted approach to confronting disinformation.

While advocates used to focus on identifying false news stories and other election-related disinformation and attempting to have it removed from online platforms, the sheer volume of deceptive and false material was overwhelming. While democracy groups still do their best to ensure egregious disinformation is flagged or removed online, the emphasis has shifted to increasing the amount of “good” information voters are exposed to, as well as urging lawmakers to strengthen laws to prevent A.I. deepfakes and disinformation from being distributed in the first place. To help spread reliable and truthful information on a broad scale, several groups are developing digital toolkits, guides, or apps that provide voters with accurate data about key issues and candidates.

In Alabama, for example, Alabama Values, a group dedicated to empowering Black voters, is beta-testing an app called Megaphone to create a pro-democracy messaging ecosystem ahead of the November elections. The app is designed to consolidate data-driven content, including videos, stories, and polls covering a wide range of topics.

Earlier this year in Louisiana, the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice hosted a Freedom Summer Tour to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Freedom Summer. The purpose of the tour was to directly engage with voters through educational and registration outreach, providing them with accurate information needed to cast a ballot in the upcoming November elections.

In Tennessee, the Equity Alliance has put out voter guides to give Tennesseans reliable information when communities are being flooded by lies and conspiracy theories. The guides contain neutral candidate profiles, details of each elected office, polling locations and hours, voter ID requirements and other relevant election information.

Democracy advocates have distributed a similar voter guide in North Carolina. They are also monitoring the growth of disinformation narratives that are being deployed to set the state for challenging the outcome of the 2024 election, like false claims of an upsurge in noncitizen voting.

Many groups have also called on government officials and media platforms urging them to crack down on growing disinformation. A collection of Florida voting advocacy organizations released a letter in June urging state legislators and county commissioners to strengthen efforts to combat voter disinformation. The signatories – more than two dozen groups led by All Voting is Local Florida, the NAACP Florida State Conference, Common Cause Florida, and the ACLU of Florida – are calling on state and county elected officials to communicate accurate election law information to voters.

The letter outlines nine specific challenges that lawmakers should be knowledgeable of, including voter list maintenance; logic and accuracy testing of voting equipment; paper ballots; reporting of vote-by-mail count; recounts; certification; audits; hand counts; and mass challenges.

In addition, a letter led by Onyx Impact urged media platforms to remain vigilant against efforts to mislead the Black community ahead of the November elections. “During a historic election year where critical issues that will determine the future of our communities are on the ballot, including the economy, healthcare, voting rights, and more, it is essential that Black media and Black Gateway Influencers and Platforms have the resources and tools necessary to stem the rising tide of disinformation and provide their growing audiences with even more accurate information,” said the letter, also signed by representatives of the Advancement Project, the Black Male Voter Project, the Working Families Party, and Higher Heights.

The letter outlines four ways to help combat the spread of disinformation: amplifying the voices of trusted Black messengers, reminding audiences to check sources, being aware of divisive content, and investing in fact-checking resources. “The organizations who have signed this letter are here to be resources for Black media outlets who are committed to promoting information integrity and mitigating the impact of disinformation,” the letter states. “As the cost of spreading disinformation approaches zero, and the cost of accessing truth is getting more expensive every day, it is critical that we do all we can to protect our communities by providing them with all the tools they need to fight disinformation.”

Facing South is the online magazine of the Institute for Southern Studies, where this article originally appeared, www.southernstudies.org.

This article originally published in the September 23, 2024 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.