Thread by @peterwsinger

Misinformation 2020:

What Does The Data Tells Us About Election-Related Falsehoods?
defenseone.com/threats/2020/1…

Me @defenseone on the election’s most-spread false themes (with added insights into swing states and FL) and the dangerous ones going viral right now

The top pre-election misinfo themes:
-Hunter Biden
-voter fraud
-Antifa
-QAnon

The top states for misinformation by the numbers: PA, MI, FL

But interesting data point that Hunter Biden narrative had TWICE the traction per capita in Florida than PA

Key lessons:
-Platform companies doing better, but scale is still immense, uneven policies
-"The Killer is inside the House!" Domestic disinfo matters more than Foreign (vs 2016)
-We are in Info Bubbles, which are too easy to manipulate (key to a surging claim of stolen vote)

Key worry: organized disinfo crossed with push towards physical protests+narratives of “any means necessary” (veiled calls to violence), a message pivot starting to accelerate on social media. It could spark scary things in the short term, is damaging to our democracy longterm.

What to do:
-platforms need to become more coordinated, do better at enforcing own policies, especially towards "superspreaders"
-better monitoring of these trends to watch for danger points
-media needs to stop enabling misinfo, follow best practices
-longterm: digital literacy

Why so important:
Major threat to our democracy, but also all the tools and tactics targeting voters will target vaccines...