Misinformation on midterm elections likely to run rampant on Twitter, report says
After new Twitter owner Elon Musk fired a significant portion of the company's staff, election researchers are bracing for a slew of misinformation to hit the platform ahead of the midterms, Reuters reported Tuesday.
These researchers studied the dialogue on Twitter and found that "threats, offensive language, and false rumors of election fraud have been circulating widely," per Reuters. One common narrative stated that delays in vote counting are a result of fraud, a notion FactCheck.org reported as false.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Littlewood added, "We know that disinformation will spike after Election Day." While Twitter users are able to report false or misleading posts, Littlewood said the company's layoffs had already caused a "big slowdown" in responses to those reports.
Twitter responded in a statement, "It has taken Twitter much longer than normal to adjudicate if these tweets violate their policies." Per Reuters, tweets that were reported on Friday were still marked as "under review" as of Monday.
Eddie Perez, a board member of the election security nonprofit OSET Institute, also told Reuters that Musk's urging of a GOP-led Congress was also causing divisions. "If the billionaire owner of Twitter is supporting one side, users may give credence to false claims simply because they may be aligned with his apparent preferences," Perez said.
-
7 bars with comforting cocktails and great hospitalitythe week recommends Winter is a fine time for going out and drinking up
-
7 recipes that meet you wherever you are during winterthe week recommends Low-key January and decadent holiday eating are all accounted for
-
Nine best TV shows of the yearThe Week Recommends From Adolescence to Amandaland
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
-
CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ report on Trump deporteesSpeed Read An investigation into the deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious prison was scrapped
-
Trump administration posts sliver of Epstein filesSpeed Read Many of the Justice Department documents were heavily redacted, though new photos of both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton emerged
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
-
House GOP revolt forces vote on ACA subsidiesSpeed Read The new health care bill would lower some costs but not extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies
-
Hegseth rejects release of full boat strike footageSpeed Read There are calls to release video of the military killing two survivors of a Sept. 2 missile strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat
-
Trump vows naval blockade of most Venezuelan oilSpeed Read The announcement further escalates pressure on President Nicolás Maduro
