With less than a week until the mid-term elections, a growing concern is how fake accounts (aka ... [+]
With less than a week until the mid-term elections, a growing concern is how fake accounts (aka bots) on social media could sway voters. According to new research from NordVPN, seven in ten Americans (70%) surveyed said they fear Twitter bots could sway or influence the election, while 62% of respondents believe voter misinformation/disinformation is even undermining democracy.
More than half of those surveyed (53%) expressed worry that election misinformation and disinformation campaigns can dissuade people from voting or even suppress the vote.
"Social media has introduced a new age of disinformation, fake news, and election falsehoods. Whether created by government agencies, political parties, or politicians, their goal is to mislead voters both locally and nationally and get you to unknowingly spread it," said Daniel Markuson, a digital privacy expert at NordVPN, via a statement.
Fake accounts are increasingly being used to spread lies and other forms of misinformation.
"For the past several elections, we've seen bad actors set up hundreds of fake social media accounts to impersonate people or organizations involved in the electoral process," warned Thomas Gann, chief public policy officer at cybersecurity firm Trellix.
The 2022 midterms should be seen as no different, Gann explained via an email.
"It’s important not to trust any social media account just because they look official," Gann continued. "Fake accounts mislead voters with incorrect information to skew how they vote while slandering figures by posting abusive language or other offensive content. Always look for the official blue checkmarks on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat to verify the identities of candidates, political parties, or government election boards."
The Spread of Misinformation
Whether via bots or individuals, it is the spread of misinformation/disinformation that has become so insidious. Many individuals may like and even forward – re-tweet, re-post – something that they simply believe to be true. As this misinformation spreads, it can seem all the more creditable.
"We've seen examples in the past of how the untethered spread of misinformation on social media can impact public perception, and influence how people make important decisions on things like elections and vaccinations," said Tom Keiser, CEO of social media management platform Hootsuite.
"It is a serious problem and one that we as the tech industry need to think through. In the absence of a set of global regulations, social media companies need to develop and implement their own rules to help rid platforms of deliberate misinformation," Keiser added.
A big step forward could be to have social platforms certify the identification of their users. And perhaps not for profit as Elon Musk has suggested with Twitter.
In addition, the platforms should do more to combat the spread of misinformation suggested Keiser. "On an individual level, I believe that those who understand the value of accurate information need to employ social listening across all channels so they can combat misinformation quickly. Establishing a respected and trusted presence on social media, and listening carefully is extremely important, but especially in the run-up to the election."
An Echo Chamber Of Opinions
Platforms such as Twitter have increasingly become "echo chambers" where liked-minded individuals parrot what others tweet or post. Yet, the power of hashtags may be diminishing.
"From what we see at Hootsuite, people aren't necessarily searching for specific hashtags anymore so I do believe that (social media has) become more of an echo chamber," Keiser noted.
In fact, those who click through on hashtags on platforms including Facebook and Twitter, where misinformation seems to be most prevalent, are often clicking through with a good sense of what they can expect to see.
"Generally, it's a bit like a self-fulfilling prophecy when you click into a political hashtag," said Keiser. "You usually get what you expect."
