Disinformation threatens global elections – here’s how to fight back
Others think concern over disinformation is just a moral panic or merely a symptom rather than the cause of our societal ills.
- Others think concern over disinformation is just a moral panic or merely a symptom rather than the cause of our societal ills.
- Given that nearly 25% of elections are decided by a margin of under 3%, mis- and disinformation can have important influence.
- By contrast, among prior Obama voters who believed at least two fake headlines about Clinton, only 17% voted for her.
- There are more indirect consequences of disinformation too, such as eroding public trust and participation in elections.
The power of prebunking
- In contrast, “prebunking” is a new way to prevent false beliefs from forming in the first place.
- Such “inoculation” involves warning people not to fall for a false narrative or propaganda tactic, together with an explanation as to why.
- Misinforming rhetoric has clear markers, such as scapegoating or use of false dichotomies (there are many others), that people can learn to identify.
- Like a medical vaccine, the prebunk exposes the recipient to a “weakened dose” of the infectious agent (the disinformation) and refutes it in a way that confers protection.
- For example, we created an online game for the Department of Homeland Security to empower Americans to spot foreign influence techniques during the 2020 presidential election.
- Lee McIntyre advises the UK Government on how to fight disinformation.
- He also receives funding from Jigsaw (a technology incubator created by Google) and from UK Research and Innovation (through EU Horizon replacement funding grant number 10049415).