It’s no secret that this is the most monumental election in the history of the United States. With the infiltration of social media into our daily lives, almost everyone has an opinion and most people choose to voice those opinions online. Did you know that 72% of U.S. citizens that are of voting age use social media on a daily basis? In a recent study, the names Trump & Biden have been mentioned a total of 6.6 million times within a two day period.
Now, if we were looking at how far we have come as a society from the viewpoint of someone in the early 1900s we would be fascinated with the concept of being able to connect instantly and gain access to current events at the touch of a finger. However, I think one thing a lot of people overlook is how toxic social media is for not only our personal lives but for our society as a whole. The 2020 US Presidential Election is a prime example of how devastating the circulation of false information can be, and just how easy it is to persuade the public into being manipulated. Despite it being too late to do anything about this problem for this election, some social media platforms have taken the time to develop techniques to discourage people from sharing false information on the internet, which if adapted correctly could help reverse some of the damage that has been done. Let’s see how some platforms are making a change for the better.
Facebook
Considering the fact that 69% of voters use it, Facebook has a huge responsibility this year is not only helping to control the spread of misinformation but also informing people directly about election updates. One update they are utilizing directly correlates to election day. We are all aware that due to mail-in voting, that we do not have an accurate timeline for when we will know for sure who has won the election. So in order to discourage misinformation, Facebook will pin a message to the top of both their feed and Instagram’s feed (since Facebook owns Instagram) telling users that vote counting is still underway, and once a winner has been officially posted, the pinned message will reflect those results.
Another step Facebook has taken to discourage political discourse deciding to bar any new political ads from being screened on their platform. This change can be seen as controversial, as misinformation and other toxic content flows freely on the platform that are not advertisements. “By banning new political ads in the final critical days of the 2020 election, Facebook has decided to tip the scales of the election to those with the greatest followings on Facebook — and that includes President Trump and the right-wing media that serve him,” says Tara McGowan, the chief executive of the liberal nonprofit group Acronym.
Twitter
President Trump is well known for his relentless commentary on Twitter and has gained over 60 million followers since the 2016 election making it one of the most popular ways for the President to communicate with the people. Similar to Facebook and Instagram, Twitter is also utilizing the pinned commentary at the top of the user’s feeds to inform the public of accurate election results. However, there will also be a live feed in the same place starting Wednesday that will address misinformation about the timing of election results as well.
Twitter has also implemented a fact-check label on any false voting information and has also decided to temporarily bar political advertisements as votes are still being counted. The company also stated that it will act against any tweets “inciting unlawful conduct to prevent a peaceful transfer of power or orderly succession.” One of the most obvious changes the platform has made is temporarily changing the retweet function. Users can still retweet by clicking through a pop-up page, but the change has been implemented to help deter people from easily sharing misinformation, and encouraging users to take a split second to think about what they are sharing before they click retweet.
Instagram
One of the most obvious changes the platform has made is to temporarily nix the ‘recent’ tab from the hashtag pages during election week. Usually, you have a choice when searching a hashtag to click ‘top’ or ‘recent,’ but with an unknown election timeline, removing the ‘recent’ section prevents users from gaining access to misinformation at least when looking for timely updates on the results. As mentioned earlier, Instagram will also have a pinned message at the top of your feed informing you that votes are still being counted and update with election results once they are determined.
Reddit
Unlike the other platforms, Reddit has taken a stronger stance. Instead of playing labels warning people of misinformation, the platform will remove content entirely that seeks to mislead or misrepresent the election results. Reddit also has an entire page dedicated to informing people about what happens after the election. The site will also host an “Ask Me Anything” series which will allow voting experts to directly answer questions about anything election-related and what to expect.
Google
As one of the most utilized tools for information gathering, Google has a huge responsibility to return accurate and timely information about the election. To ensure accurate voter information, Google has partnered up with the Associated Press to ensure that any time the question “Who won the election?” is asked, you will be directed to the Associated Press’s website.
TikTok
Similar to other social media platforms, TikTok has partnered with fact-checkers to prevent the spread of misinformation. Similar to Reddit’s stance, the platform will remove any videos that violate their guidelines which revolve around spreading misinformation. Some of the fact-check partners the app is partnering with include PolitiFact, Poynter Institute, and its MediaWise program, Science Feedback, Lead Stories, and Vishvas News.
"With a heightened focus around Election Day, we'll be partnering with these fact-checkers to reduce discoverability of content that prematurely claims victory in a race before results are confirmed by The Associated Press," TikTok US Head of Safety Eric Han said. "Out of an abundance of caution, if claims can't be verified or fact-checking is inconclusive, we'll limit distribution of the content."
The platform will also add a banner pointing viewers to their official election guide on any content that mentions any unverifiable information about the election.
As social media users during this time, we can partially put the platforms to blame for helping to spread misinformation, but I encourage you all to take your own accountability into consideration. As Ideaison and Retrospekt Fest’s content creator, I make it imperative to fact check and talk with the whole team before posting about political related topics. This way, we can help make the world of social media just that much more reliable. We live in a world where many people read headlines and share articles without taking the time to even see what they actually say. In a click-bait generation, we all need to think before we share, do our own research, and most importantly, be patient with each other. We live in a world full of confirmation bias and misinformation, and now more than ever we need to respect and listen to each other. We are so lucky to live in a country where we have the right to voice our opinions publicly, let’s not take that right for granted by spreading hate and judgment. The internet can be such a toxic place, let’s remind ourselves where that toxicity sprouts from.