Warning: Rise of Disinformation in the 2024 Election

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, disinformation means false information “covertly spread… in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth.” 

Interested in researching disinformation in political campaigns, I found an article by senior reporter Brandy Zadrozny at NBC News. She believes that factors contributing to the spread of disinformation include those influenced by former President Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen from Republicans, the rise of artificial intelligence in campaigning and advertising, social media teams not being transparent about disinformation on their platforms, and attacks on researchers that aimed to track down disinformation. However, Zadrozny’s primary stress throughout the article was on the ethics of media users (mainly right-wing supporters and Trump loyalists) who are using AI technology for campaigning; as previously seen, disinformation can “provide false evidence for claims with conclusions that threaten democracy or national health,” and Zadrozny gave examples of the capitol raid and the COVID-19 pandemic. With such media users and scammers creating deep fakes, synthetic media, and propaganda to meme opposing candidates and political officials, AI could “personalize misinformation, making it harder for social media platforms to moderate because it appears authentic.” An article by David Keppler from AP News supports Zadrozny's claim, explaining how scammers are utilizing deep fake videos and viewers' political ideologies to make money off of them. Furthermore, a “lack of transparency from social media companies” causes the American public to lose their confidence in journalism and believe anything is a piece of disinformation (Zadrozny). For those who get their news from social media, the best way to get around such disinformation would be to learn which resources can be trusted and to explore other narratives and perspectives of events/information.

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