Misinformation undermines democracy; what to do about it?

"Democracy in the United States is in serious trouble," and in large measure because of misinformation, write two fellows and another researcher at the Brookings Institution. Gabriel R. Sanchez, Keesha Middlemass, and Aila Rodriguez cite several recent polls, including an NPR survey that found 64% of American adults believe that U.S. democracy is in crisis and is at risk of failing, a Quinnipiac University survey showing that 76% think political instability in the nation is a bigger danger than external adversaries. "Amazingly, this suggests that Americans recognize that we are a bigger threat to our own democracy than any other potential external threat," they write. "Sadly, according to this poll, over half of Americans (53%) expect political divisions in the country to worsen over their lifetime rather than get better."

Misinformation "deliberately aimed at disrupting the democratic process . . . confuses and overwhelms voters," they write. "Throughout the 2020 election cycle, Russia’s cyber efforts and online actors were able to influence public perceptions and sought to amplify mistrust in the electoral process by denigrating mail-in voting, highlighting alleged irregularities, and accusing the Democratic Party of engaging in voter fraud. The 'big lie' reinforced by President Trump about the 2020 election results amplified the Russian efforts and has lasting implications on voters’ trust in election outcomes."

One poll found that 57% of white Americans believe there was voter fraud in the 2020 election, and 

another found that only 20% felt "very confident" in the integrity of the election system. In another survey, 56% said they have "little or no confidence" that elections represent the will of the people. "The implications of this trend are huge, as decreased confidence in the system decreases civic engagement," the Brookings experts write.

 

They note that "the National Intelligence Council has found no indications that any foreign actor has interfered in the technical aspect of voting. Also, The Associated Press investigated all claims of vote fraud in the six states that decided the 2020 election and found far too little to make a difference. At the request of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, publisher of The Rural Blog, AP allows non-subscriber weeklies to publish those stories, but few appear to have done so. 

"Darrell West, vice president and director of governance studies at Brookings, argues that the news media has a major role to play in combatting fake news and sophisticated disinformation campaigns," they write. "West argues that the government should invest in media literacy so that voters can identify false information and stop its spread. Brookings offers ways to tackle the problem, including:

• Myth busting: Some states are moving forward in educating the public by providing specific fact-checks on election information: New Mexico, North Carolina, Connecticut and California. Colorado has cybersecurity experts to monitor sites for misinformation about election processes.
• Education: Digital Informers at Howard University "think the best way to combat misinformation is through community engagement and educational efforts, including using trusted sources in the community to talk to individuals about what they believe. Then, those perspectives, if false, can be countered with factual information from people with respect in their community.
• News literacy: "More long-term efforts focus on the next generation of voters: middle-school and high-school students who are highly susceptible to misinformation given how much time they spend on social media platforms and given that they have not yet developed the ability to sort out misinformation from factual content on-line. . . . Illinois was the first state to require news literacy courses to be offered at every high school. . . . Colorado now requires media literacy standards in schools, and the state provides technical assistance.

"We are clearly at a critical point in our nation’s history, and without major efforts to increase confidence in our election system – voter registration, voting processes, and tabulating ballots – we might not be able to win back the public’s trust," the Brookings experts conclude.