Election Resource Library - Election Disinformation

Past disinformation campaigns attacking U.S. elections offer clear examples of how adversaries strategize and attack democratic institutions. With this track we delve into past election case studies to unravel adversarial methods of dissemination, organizations’ analysis and detection work, and strategies that are adjusted to protect from attacks like these in the future.

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Five things to know about disinformation this election year

William McKenzie/ Bush Institute
The post discusses five points about disinformation/ misinformation in the 2023 elections. It primarily explores what to expect and how to be prepared for information campaigns regarding elections.

 

Research Note: Lies and Presidential Debates: How Political Misinformation spread across Media Streams during the 2020 Elections

Jaren Haber, Lisa Singh, Ceren Budak, Josh Pasek, Meena Balan, Ryan Callahan, Rob Churchill, Brandon Herren, Kornrapop Kawintiranon
Delving into the 2020 Presidential debates, this article scrutinizes 14 misinformation topics raised by the presidential nominees. It contends that media coverage of false claims, regardless of stance, aids misinformation spread, granting politicians partisan advantage.

 

Covid-19 misinformation and the 2020 US Presidential Election

Claire Wardle, Eric Singerman
Using data scraped from Twitter, the 2020 misinformation narratives around the Covid-19 are explored in the context of two primary misinformation themes: mask usage, and the validity of mail-in ballots.

Mail-in Voter Fraud: Anatomy of a Disinformation Campaign

Yochai Benkler, Casey Tilton, Bruce Etling, Hal Roberts, Justin Clark, Robert Faris, Jonas Kaiser, Carolyn Schmitt
This report assesses the disinformation campaign regarding mail-in votes during the 2020 election, a microcosm of the outsized impact of disinfo on real-world events.

A Short Guide to the History of Fake News

Julie Posetti, Alice Matthews
This short report gives an overview of how fake news (misinformation, disinformation and propaganda) have been used historically from the times of Mark Anthony to 2018 around the world.

Mobilizing Manufactured Reality: How Participatory Disinformation Shaped Deep Stories to Catalyze Action during the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election

Jevin D. West, Starbird Kate
Through the analysis of the 2020 US election, the article studies how people interpret and act on disinformation through the resource mobilization theory. It displays how users on social media platforms collaboratively construct and amplify disinformation.

Exposure to Russian Twitter Campaigns in 2016 Presidential Race Highly Concentrated, Largely Limited to Strongly Partisan Republicans

New York University
This piece discusses Russia’s involvement and strategies in the disinformation campaigns surrounding the 2016 election, with special attention to their target selection.

Fake news on Twitter during the 2016 U.S. presidential election

Nir Grinberg, Kenneth Joseph, Lisa Friedland, Briony Swire-Thompson, David Lazer
This article breaks down fake news campaigns and spreads during the 2016 U.S. election.

Beyond Twitter: The Election 2022 Social Media Ecosystem

University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public, Election Integrity Partnership
Breakdown of 2020 election fraud influencers and their leveraging of several platforms to spread mis and disinformation. 

Microsoft says a China-backed group is using AI misinformation to sway foreign elections

Laura Bratton
Microsoft says a China-backed group is using AI misinformation to sway foreign elections.