The News Literacy Project’s lead RumorGuard® writer and fact-checking expert, Dan Evon, is taking over part of Get Smart About News this week. You may recall his special issue on misinformation last year, which highlighted trending misinformation tactics. Ahead of next month’s U.S. presidential debate, we asked Dan back to share tips on false rumors to watch out for during this election season.
Hope you find this issue helpful.
— The Get Smart About News team
Three false election claims to watch out for
Breaking news events surrounding this year’s election have dominated headlines in recent weeks, from the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump that left one rallygoer dead to the historic shake-up in the Democratic ticket. Across social media and the vast information landscape, false rumors and conspiracy theories about the election continue to spread. Here are a few false election narratives to look out for.
False claims about mental fitness lead the pack.
The mental acuity of President Joe Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, was a driving subject for political discourse and for rumors aimed at distorting our views on the issue. Don’t expect these claims to dissipate much as Vice President Kamala Harris, 59, has become the Democratic nominee. While these mental fitness claims largely hinged on the age of the candidates, there are plenty of rumors attacking Harris’ mental acuity — including one that featured a convincing impersonator.
The most popular method of spreading these falsehoods has been by circulating out-of-context videos and photographs, such as this video that purports to show Biden “waving” to nobody (he didn’t) or this video of Trump “forgetting” his wife’s name (he didn’t). Searching for the original footage can help you avoid falling for these deceptions.
Altered audio is on the rise.
While exercising careful, critical observation is often enough to detect manipulated photographs and AI-generated images, not all false content contains visual cues. Adding noise of a rowdy crowd to a video of a political speech, for example, can give people the false impression that a candidate has more opposition or support than they truly do. Celebrity impersonators and AI voice clones have also been used to put words, literally, into an unsuspecting person’s mouth, such as this example of audio from a bogus Biden robocall or this altered audio clip of Trump seeming to disparage Republican voters.
The prevalence of fake audio to push false claims from partisan accounts underscores why it’s vital for people to consult standards-based news sources.
Conspiracies go mainstream.
Conspiracy theories have always been a part of the online information landscape, but a global pandemic, an attempted assassination and a change at the top of the Democratic ticket have kicked these claims into overdrive. While the theories spawned by each of these events vary greatly (Is Biden a clone? Was Trump’s assassination attempt staged? No and no), they are similar in that they capitalize on and perpetuate distrust in the press and discontent with the government.
People tend to latch onto conspiracy theories during moments of uncertainty — because they offer someone to blame or satisfying explanations. In the wake of a breaking news event, as people rush online with questions, purveyors of misinformation present baseless claims as answers. It is important to remind ourselves that good journalism takes time and the information we want often takes time to confirm. Be patient and wait for credible news sources to publish verified reports to avoid the conspiratorial rabbit hole.
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