Identify Misinformation on Social Media Before Tomorrow's Election

Monday, November 2nd, 2020 -- 10:04 AM

(Howard Hardee, Wisconsin Watch) -An onslaught of Wisconsin-focused social media content has attacked the integrity of the Postal Service, voting by mail and the country’s election system.

According to Howard Hardee of Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsinites can expect to see more falsehoods ahead of tomorrow’s vote. The deluge of disinformation could shape the outcome of the election, said Michael Wagner, a professor of journalism and mass communication and expert on political messaging at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “In swing states like Wisconsin, something that affects 5,000 to 15,000 people could sway the entire presidential election. So, it doesn’t have to have a big effect in terms of numbers to have a huge effect with respect to who wins,” he said. The best defense from rumors and hoaxes is knowing what to expect. Here’s a preview of misinformation that voters are likely to encounter on social media. Attempts to discredit elections officials and processes. “The most insidious kind of voter suppression are posts that try to sow a lack of confidence in the integrity of our electoral systems,” Wagner said. Mail carriers, postal system will stay in the crosshairs. A photo of a stack of mailboxes in an industrial lot went viral on social media in mid-August, after a Twitter user falsely called it evidence of “massive voter suppression” in Wisconsin. While the image was captured in Wisconsin, the mailboxes weren’t being decommissioned to sabotage voting by mail. Online sleuths quickly discovered that the photo depicted Hartford Finishing, a business in Hartford, Wisconsin, that contracts with the Postal Service to refurbish or destroy old mailboxes. That explains the stacks in the photo.

Influencers will play up intimidation tactics. With the threat of political violence growing in the United States, armed “poll watchers” might show up to polling places on Election Day. Social media accounts might also spread false rumors that militia members are at a specific polling place. Bad actors will capitalize on chaos. Election Day won’t unfold perfectly. Wisconsinites could see long lines and individual voting machines malfunction. But that wouldn’t suggest a widespread effort to disqualify votes. Finally, keep in mind that a surge in voting by mail will almost certainly delay the declaration of the winner of the presidential election, adding time for disinformation to spread, said Jesse Littlewood, vice president for campaigns with Common Cause, a nonpartisan citizen reform advocacy group. Wisconsin is among the few states that bans poll workers from processing absentee ballots until Election Day. There is no such thing as night-of results. Elections are certified weeks after Election Day, not when news anchors project the winner. “It’s more important to be accurate than fast,” Littlewood said. “It may take time to count every vote, but that’s what we do in a democracy.”

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