Categories: Technology Facts

Guess which states saw the most election disinformation in 2020on December 16, 2020 at 3:00 pm

On November 3, Tina Barton ran into a problem. It was Election Day in the US and Barton, a Republican, was city clerk for Rochester Hills, Michigan, a conservative-leaning community near Detroit. As she was uploading some of the voting results, there was a technical issue, which she reported to Oakland County officials. But the voting data wasn’t fixed for two days–by which time the entire country was looking at the state’s election results.

The change was very, very public, and it generated a huge swell of misinformation. This was supercharged on November 6, when Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the Republican National Committee, flew to Oakland County and held a press conference. She claimed that 2,000 ballots had been counted as Republican before being “given” to Democrats.

“If we are going to come out of this and say this was a fair and free election, what we are hearing from the city of Detroit is deeply troubling,” McDaniel said.

Upset at how the situation was being misrepresented, Barton posted a video on Twitter refuting the claims. She’s been the Rochester Hills clerk for eight years, and when she spoke out against McDaniel, she knew she was putting her career on the line. In the video, which has since been deleted, Barton said, “I am disturbed that this is intentionally being mischaracterized to undermine the election process.”

Her remarks went viral, and they were met with threats and anger. In an email to MIT Technology Review, Barton said that “since Ms. McDaniel’s press conference, I have received threatening voice mails and messages.” One caller claimed to be on the way to Michigan. Barton upgraded the security system of her home.

Targeting our natural fears

Data shows that during the election, disinformation was highly targeted locally, with voters in swing states exposed to significantly more online messages about voter intimidation, fraud, ballot glitches, and unrest than voters in other states.

In a data set provided by Zignal Labs, we looked at mentions of over 30 terms related to voter suppression or intimidation, fraud, technical errors, and unrest that focused on a particular polling location. Our sample of 16 states found that between October 1 and November 13, swing states had more than four times the amount of localized voting misinformation: a median of 115,200 such mentions, while non-swing states saw a median of 28,000 related messages.

Here’s a chart showing how the volume of messages changed over the days before the election itself.

Mentions relating to voter intimidation, fraud, technical glitches, and voter suppression at specific polling places

Bhaskar Chakravorti, dean of global business at Tuft University’s Fletcher School, conducts research on the conditions that leave a community particularly vulnerable to disinformation. He says that this local focus is typical of effective disinformation campaigns, which are usually pinned to a specific place and slice the target audience into its smallest, stereotyped parts. “Clever misinformation” is organized, he says, in the same way that political campaigning is.

Read More

Recent Posts

5 Ways To Improve Your Business Scalability With Outsourcing

A business can develop in many ways. One of the best ways to grow your…

16 hours ago

Shopping Trends for Back-to-School in 2025: Where Astute Parents Are Locating the Greatest Deals

American families are once again juggling the seasonal custom—and financial burden—of back-to-school shopping as the…

3 days ago

5 Unconventional Ways To Connect With Your Teenager

Want to bond over unexpected activities? Look at these unconventional ways to connect with your…

4 days ago

Managing Burnout as a Homeschool Mom of Littles

Burnout isn’t just something that happens to CEOs. For moms homeschooling littles, it’s a very…

4 days ago

Long Hauls Made Easy: Touring Features That Make BMW Motorcycles a Top Choice

When it comes to long-distance motorcycling, comfort, reliability, and smart engineering can make or break…

4 days ago

Why More People Are Choosing To Order Flowers In Sydney Online?

Flowers have seen significant transformation over time; online flower shopping is increasingly common now for…

4 days ago