Democracy depends on us

Misinformation and a lack of news literacy across the United States have created a crisis — an existential threat to our democracy. People of all ages urgently need news literacy skills.

As the November election approaches, misinformation threatens the democratic process in unprecedented ways, especially among historically marginalized communities that are often the primary targets of voter suppression efforts. Anxiety over an ongoing public health crisis is only accelerating the spread of viral rumors, hoaxes and conspiracy theories.

To combat election misinformation, NLP is launching Democracy depends on us, a nonpartisan nationwide campaign to provide voters with the tools to inoculate themselves against election misinformation. This critical work will help all Americans protect their right to make their vote count.

Reliable sources for information on voting

• Vote.gov (USAgov and US Election Assistance Commission)
• Your Guide to Voting During the Pandemic (Consumer Reports)
• Vote 411 (League of Women Voters Education Fund)
• How to vote in your state (The Washington Post)
• Also, check out our Flipboard storyboard where we are collecting excellent reporting on election-related misinformation from high-quality news organizations.

Making sense of election data

Data can be a powerful tool. It helps us to understand the world with more precision and greater clarity.  Data is often the foundation for research, news articles and social media posts. Authors rely on data to help tell their story or prove their point. Because of its power to influence our understanding and decision–making,  it’s essential that we learn how to confidently and critically consume the data we encounter, especially before heading to the polls. We address these questions and more in the blog series “Making sense of data,” presented by our partner  SAS, a pioneer in the data management and analytics field.