The US midterm elections voted on the 8th, and misleading and provocative videos began to circulate again, and there were more baseless claims that "Republican voters were banned from participating in the polls." AFP
The US midterm elections voted on the 8th, and misleading and provocative videos began to circulate again, and there were more baseless claims that "Republican voters were banned from participating in the polls."
The Washington Post reported that in addition to the video, an article went viral on Twitter, which described dozens of ballot counters malfunctioning and failing to process ballots as "systematic fraud" in support of former President Donald Trump. Trump's extremism forum "TheDonald" even urged "armed intervention" in Georgia's polling center, advising "if there's violence, shoot first."
The above misinformation breeds an entire system in which all election results against it are dubious. Cindy Otis, a former tech executive and CIA analyst who is now working on disinformation, points out, “We’re not looking everywhere for a single narrative or false claim that happens to spread, we’re looking at the whole of social media. Platforms and independent news review sites, they start reporting on elections from where 'the elections are being rigged against conservatives'".
In some cases, the fake news included "calls for violence". According to the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks online extremists, the encouragement to attack Georgia's vote-counting site is based on news that some voters in Cobb County have extended the deadline for mail-in ballots after logistical problems. As for "The Donald," some posts called on Georgia supporters to "get ready to load up the guns" for "hoaxes" around the election office.
Additionally, researchers and campaign officials said they observed a marked slowdown in content moderation methods on Twitter, tied to layoffs following Elon Musk's acquisition of the platform. Some online claims also have little basis in reality, including on Facebook and Telegram, where some urged voters to check WiFi signals around polling places, saying the vote "could be tampered with online."
