The American voter is under siege by disinformation. This means you and me. We need stronger defenses.
Politicians and their supporters have always exaggerated, always offered misinformation – about their and their opponents’ records, about how much they can do. We expect this, so we can correct this in our own minds and in our conversations.
But today’s situation is different, and much more difficult for us to manage effectively, because some politicians and their supporters are increasingly delivering disinformation – false information deliberately spread to deceive us. And the threat is much more serious now because some are using Artificial Intelligence computer programs to make the information appear to be from trusted sources.
The current grave threat originated during the Trump administration. The Washington Post, one of our most reliable national newspapers, listed 30,573 false or seriously misleading statements from former President Donald Trump.
The threat became more serious with Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen – a claim he is still making, even though it has been debunked by countless experts and more than 60 courts and judges, many of them Trump’s appointees.
But the claim led to the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021, which resulted in the afternoon attack on the Capitol and almost succeeded in overturning the newly – and fairly – elected Joe Biden presidency. And 147 Republican members of Congress voted not to certify Biden’s election just hours after the attack!
Recent polls find two-thirds of Republicans believe that the election was stolen, as do a third of all Americans. Many Republican candidates say they believe this, or at least refuse to say that Biden’s election was fair. These beliefs are a product of disinformation, started by Trump and echoed by many others in social media and even by some “news” networks.
Disinformation has also permeated some reactions to natural disasters such as the recent hurricanes, such as false statements that FEMA had not shown up to help with relief, or was seizing damaged property, or that the administration had spent FEMA relief funds on illegal immigrants. This disinformation even dissuaded some victims from seeking relief help, and some Republicans (including Trump) falsely asserted that the administration was not helping Republican voting areas.
The most ominous effect of disinformation is that it undermines faith in our democratic institutions – countries, governments and political systems governed by representatives elected by the people. If this continues or worsens, the consequences will be disastrous.
How can we protect ourselves – and our democracy – against such disinformation? It isn’t easy when social media such as X (formerly Twitter) allow the free and rapid transmission of disinformation and so many politicians and commentators continue to perpetrate it. Some social media, such as Facebook, are trying to catch and delete disinformation, but that is at best a difficult game of “catch-up.”
To protect yourself, and to avoid spreading disinformation, you can check the source of something you encounter. If it seems to be a reputable source, such as a major national newspaper (the New York Times, The Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal) or news service (The Associated Press), you can check it at the source’s website.
You can also go to Politifact.com, a nonprofit fact-checking website. Many major newspapers have also established their own fact-checking operations. Another possible help is NewsGuardRealityCheck.com. New websites also are being developed to detect possible AI generation of deceptive disinformation materials. An example is botsentinel.com, a website with software developed to protect Twitter users from “inauthentic accounts, toxic trolls, (and) foreign countries.”
Protecting ourselves and our democracy from assault by disinformation and its perpetrators will remain an ongoing challenge, but we can all do our part to not spread it. The high stakes make this necessary and worthwhile.
David V. Edwards is a retired professor of government from The University of Texas at Austin and author of “The American Political Experience” and “Creating a New World Politics,” among other books. He’s now living in Bayfield.
