We are Equity Labs and we approve this message: Navigating Elections in the Disinformation Age
The 2024 election season is underway. The primary season for the Democratic and Republican parties has started and already the presidential candidate pool is shrinking. AdImpact projects that this election cycle will be the most expensive one in history with campaigns spending approximately 10.2 billion dollars on advertising and messaging. This is up almost 13% from the 2020 election cycle. If you live in one of the 7 identified battleground states, congratulations! Every media platform you use, TV, Radio, streaming services, and social media platforms will be inundated with propaganda designed to persuade you to embrace a political position and ultimately vote for a particular candidate.
This also might be one of (if not) the most challenging election cycles we have encountered in terms of discerning fact from fiction. With the advent of AI-generated imagery and deep fake technology more is asked of voters in terms of differentiating between honest, authentic information and maliciously manufactured disinformation. Add to that the viral ability of short-media social platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and X (previously known as Twitter), and the opportunities for nuanced deliberation and socially conscious thinking are vastly diminished. If we buy into the idea that social media platforms are no longer the forum for decision-driving political discourse, then we have to re-examine the places that we used to rely on… family networks, friend groups, workplaces, classrooms, and other social gatherings as the place to return to. The thought of talking about politics in the workplace, classrooms, or friend networks might sound scary at first glance… but consider the alternatives and you will come to realize that we don’t have too many other options, and who you vote for isn’t something one can (or should) decide on their own without engaging in conversation with the people who matter to you.
With that in mind, our conversations must begin with good information. Information curated to represent a broad range of perspectives and grounded in factually accurate information. With this as our starting point, we are better equipped to have meaningful dialogues about policy differences. We propose the following considerations as you vet your information.
Authenticity of the media: Where once upon a time you could view a video of a presidential candidate and assume that it is the candidate articulating a policy position, you can no longer do so. Deep Fakes use people’s actual utterances of words and sequence them in such a way that almost any candidate can appear to say anything. The video is then manipulated to mimic the newly sequenced statements. This is done so cleverly that a casual consumer of the media may believe it to be true. Researchers at MIT are studying this phenomenon and propose some guidance on identifying deep fakes.
Source of the media: We have all heard the obscure “This message is brought to you by <insert name of obscure even if high-minded sounding political action committee>” at the end of a political campaign advertisement. With the deregulation of political campaign financing laws in 2010 (see Citizens United vs FEC), how money moves politics has dramatically shifted. Campaign contribution rules now allow for obscure political action committees (PACs) to mount million-dollar ad campaigns funded by “Dark Money” to influence political messaging. So, the next time you hear one of these PAC-sponsored political messages look them up at Opensecrets.org, a non-partisan, independent research group tracking all political spending. Know the source of your information and the political agenda they are pursuing.
Accuracy of the Claim: Gone are the days when we could expect our elected officials to be truthful… perhaps it is my naivete that I believed that to be a reasonable expectation. In this disinformation age, voters should consider using services like FactCheck.org, a non-partisan, nonprofit organization backed by the Annenberg Public Policy Center to verify the factual accuracy of any political claim. Once you have established the factual accuracy it is worthwhile checking if the information is placed in its proper historical/contemporary context.
Alignment of values: In the increasingly divisive political rhetoric more and more of the electorate are “values” voters. These are constituents who vote based on deeply held personal values on single or multiple issues. Issues such as abortion rights, fiscal responsibility, the right to own or possess arms, and other socio-cultural (some would argue civil rights) issues are driving forces in peoples’ electoral choices. There is value in voting in line with one’s values and certainly suggesting someone vote against them sounds inappropriate. We do suggest though that people take a moment to reflect on the values that mean the most to them, especially when a vote for a candidate means supporting some values and abandoning others. Another important consideration is to reflect on whether a deeply held personal value of an individual should be what drives legislative or government action.
Appraising the impact for yourself (and others): In 1992 trying to explain polling trends James Carville said “It’s the economy, stupid!” As people go to the polling booths, they consider what a vote for one candidate or another would mean for them. What will it mean for their jobs? What will it mean for their family? What will it mean for their bank accounts? But as you get ready to vote this year, even as you consider that for yourselves, what if you considered what it would mean for others as well? The United States is experiencing historic levels of unhoused people. Even as we emerge from a pandemic and live through historic levels of inflation people are still struggling to make ends meet. The American middle class is disappearing, and the concept of homeownership is a pipedream for many. What if this election cycle we consider the impact of our vote on other people?
I must own my stripes as you read and consider how you make up your mind this election cycle. I am an immigrant who arrived on these shores almost 25 years ago from a pseudo-democracy. This will be the first time I vote in a presidential election. While I have always been politically active and a careful consumer of information, this election cycle will be challenging for me too. You are not alone in trying to decipher this chaos. I have long believed that our votes are more powerful when we cast them in the service of the most vulnerable people among us. This will be the first time I get to test that philosophy.