It is less than a month until the midterm elections, and concerns remain that efforts are falling ... [+]
It is less than a month until the midterm elections, and concerns remain that efforts are falling short to combat the spread of misinformation, and even disinformation, on social media. As more and more Americans now rely on the platforms for news and information, it seems that the risk of misinformation to manipulate voters and sway elections is greater than ever.
"While the social media platforms are exploring solutions and supporting important programs, there is always more they can be doing," warned Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, executive director of the National Association for Media Literacy Education.
Business As Usual?
A major issue is that the business model of social media actually supports the spread of such fake news.
"Harmful information is magnified and exacerbated by a media landscape that profits from our views and clicks," Lipkin added.
Yet, efforts are finally underway to change that.
"Facebook now remains under significant pressure to contribute to the effort to inhibit the attempts of Russia and China to undermine the citizenry faith in the functioning of democracy in the USA," said David Jacobson, professor of global business strategy at SMU's Cox School of Business.
"So many of the narratives of the far right conspiracy theories were born out of efforts of private and People's Republic of China's public ministry of propaganda and Russia's FSB-related efforts for psychological 'disruption of democracy' starting even before the 2016 election," explained Jacobson. "It ramped up in direct influence of the election, and Facebook and its subsidiaries knew that much was being exploited to spread false news stories."
Fortunately, there is much more scrutiny, and there are now more sophisticated tools to identify those efforts by foreign actors and document Facebook's response in real-time. Yet, it still remains unclear if Facebook, or the other platforms, would be taking such an active role without the impetus of third-party scrutiny and fears of future regulation added Jacobson.
More Should Have Been Done
Some experts have also suggested that while Facebook's removal of misinformation networks is welcome, it is really too little, too late.
"The 2020 United States elections were replete with state and non-state actors distributing misinformation. While it is not clear to what degree these campaigns influenced election outcomes, many Americans still (falsely) believe that the election was 'rigged' as a result of lies and misinformation," said Dr. William Pelfrey Jr., professor in the Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Pelfrey suggested that social media organizations bears responsibility to restrict the distribution of information portrayed as news that is spoof news and to certify that participants on the platforms accurately represent their identities.
"Failure to do either of these leads to a snowball effect of misinformation," he warned. "If a social media participant who claims to be a U.S. Citizen – but is actually an agent of a state – posts a link to a false news story (i.e. a fabricated BBC or NY Times article), and that spoof news then gets distributed, and redistributed, and redistributed, it starts to take on the appearance of fact."
At A Breaking Point?
There is also the belief that if social media continues to abrogate the responsibilities of restricting misinformation distribution and certifying participants, federal regulation will likely force them to take action.
"Facebook is going to have to redouble their efforts to oversee misleading and even malicious posts during the midterm election. Facebook's reputation was devastated in 2020, in part because of espoused free-speech values and in part because of the sheer conceit of their influence," said James Bailey, professor of leadership at the George Washington University School of Business.
Vigilance is now the name of the game for Facebook for the next few months – but likely only because of the past scrutiny. The social network still has much more to do.
"Blocking a few subversive Chinese or Russian accounts is a start," Bailey continued. "But that shrinks compared to the millions of heavily followed people who spout vitriol. And people believe it, and act on it, and gather in droves or mobs."
Containing The Spread This Year?
It still remains unclear if Facebook can contain the spread of misinformation and disinformation with the upcoming 2022 midterms.
Bailey noted that algorithms are only as good as the programmer.
"Delayed posts until eyes can take a gander," Bailey pondered. "Not possible from a labor perspective or how faulty human judgment can be."
Instead, it may be about educating Americans not to believe everything posted on social media as fact and gospel.
"All participants on social media should treat information with skepticism – there are sophisticated and well-funded agents actively trying to mislead us," added Pelfrey. "Social media was never intended to be a medium for news distribution but it has been corrupted with shocking efficiency."
Media Literacy
Media literacy education could be one of the best way to solve the problem of misinformation, while the work of spreading media literacy could also be strengthened by the involvement of a broad coalition of people and groups, including social media companies.
The National Association for Media Literacy Education is now working to bring attention to this issue, including via the U.S. Media Literacy Week which begins on October 24, 2022. Progress is already being made, but there is still work to be done.
"Since the 2016 presidential election, there has been growing public awareness of the issues surrounding false information about elections," Lipkin explained. "Let us not forget that before 2016 most people didn't even know what the word 'algorithm' meant or that social media companies used our data."
She added that while we actually have come far in the last six years, there is still a long way to go to solve these issues – but added that the fault remains on society. "Media literacy is the frontline in our defense against misinformation, false news, and anti-democratic forces. In the United States, we don't devote any significant government effort, or funding for media literacy education research, training, or implementation. Shame on us."
