Don’t believe everything, or maybe anything, you read on social media.
In the wake of Trump’s stunning upset last week, media analysts have worked feverishly to figure out how social media may have altered the outcome of this election.
From carefully targeted (attacks) to fake websites with false polling place addresses, online voter-suppression tactics wreak unprecedented havoc on the November election, according to a 2008 report released by a group of privacy and election protection organizations. Eight years later, fake social media accounts are still spreading misinformation to suppress voter turnout or to influence how people vote, keeping social-media companies busy trying to delete them all. Advising each other to double-check the source of information and to be careful in what they share with friends and followers is the best safeguard.
“The unique features of the internet that enable efficient distributed communications are exactly those that make it difficult to regulate,” concludes the study.
Information obtained from WIRED Magazine feature on October 20, 2008 under the title, “Report: Operatives Will Use Internet to Suppress the Vote”.
Artwork provided by WIRED