Nov 12 Watch 6:11 Social media platforms face ongoing struggle to combat disinformation President Trump has repeatedly made misleading and false statements about mail-in ballots, the vote-counting process and more. Some of his supporters and members of the conservative media have, too. Social platforms like Twitter and Facebook have tried to limit the… Continue watching
Nov 05 False claims of Wisconsin voter fraud rely on wrong numbers By Amanda Seitz, Associated Press One tweet that went viral relied on outdated figures from 2018 to wrongly claim that the number of votes cast in the state exceeded the number of registered voters. Continue reading
Nov 04 Post-election vote tallying raises fresh security concerns By Eric Tucker, Ben Fox, Associated Press Election Day came and went without any overt signs of foreign interference affecting the vote, but that doesn’t mean the risk has faded. Continue reading
Nov 04 Did social media actually counter election misinformation? By Matt O'Brien, Mae Anderson, Associated Press Ahead of the election, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube promised to clamp down on election misinformation, up to and including unsubstantiated charges of fraud and premature declarations of victory by candidates. Continue reading
Nov 03 Pennsylvania emerges as online misinformation hot spot By Amanda Seitz, Barbara Ortutay, Associated Press Misleading claims have spread for hours on social media about polling machine outages in Scranton and a poll worker destroying ballots cast for President Donald Trump. Continue reading
Nov 03 Huge voter turnout expected despite virus, political rancor By Christina A. Cassidy, Anthony Izaguirre, Associated Press Election Day in the U.S. is unfolding like no other, with nearly 100 million Americans having already cast their ballots before polls opened. Voters took advantage of absentee balloting and early in-person voting amid a pandemic that has killed more… Continue reading
Nov 01 Video altered to make it look like Biden greeted wrong state By Ali Swenson, Associated Press It turns out he was, indeed, in Minnesota. The video that was shared had been altered to change the text on a sign and the podium to refer to Tampa, Florida, instead of Minnesota. Continue reading
Oct 28 Watch 3:36 Partisan divisions on display as social media CEOs testify before Senate panel By John Yang This election year is seeing increased attention and scrutiny regarding social media platforms -- and how they can be manipulated to spread misinformation. But the greater level of awareness hasn’t stopped the practices, either. And the battles over content moderation… Continue watching
Oct 28 Watch 6:30 Why we are so susceptible to misinformation By William Brangham, Lorna Baldwin Social media plays a major role in shaping current American political discourse. During a Senate hearing Wednesday, executives from leading online platforms were criticized by lawmakers for their companies’ records on limiting the spread of misinformation. William Brangham explores how… Continue watching
Oct 16 Twitter says it will change policy on hacked content to stifle misinformation By Associated Press Twitter and Facebook had moved quickly this week to limit the spread of one news outlet's story, which cited unverified emails from Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s son that were reportedly discovered by President Donald Trump’s allies. The story has… Continue reading