Trust In Voting How Misinformation Threatens Democracy

“We’re seeing higher levels of distrust in our elections, how they’re run and the validity of their outcomes,” USC Price’s Mindy Romero says. (Photo/iStock) With misinformation on the rise and American voters increasingly losing faith in elections, USC experts explore strategies to restore confidence in democracy. Public trust in our free and fair elections — a fundamental pillar of American democracy — is eroding. We don’t need polls to tell us Americans are losing faith in democracy, though the numbers back it up: Recent survey data shows that almost 60% of Americans are dissatisfied with the current state... The flow of misinformation and coordinated disinformation campaigns are generating alarming levels of doubt among voters, USC experts say.

From narratives around contentious issues like abortion and immigration to unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud, the damaging effects of misinformation on democracy are increasingly evident. Even misinformation surrounding federal responses to crises such as Hurricane Helene show how public perception can be swayed and the consequences that can follow. Ullrich Ecker is a professor at the School of Psychological Science and a fellow at the Public Policy Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia. Jon Roozenbeek is assistant professor in psychology and security at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London, UK. Sander van der Linden is a professor of social psychology in society at the University of Cambridge, UK. Li Qian Tay is a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Medicine and Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

John Cook is a senior research fellow at the Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Erosion of Public Trust in American Elections Fuels Democratic Backsliding The bedrock of American democracy, the public’s faith in free and fair elections, is demonstrably crumbling. Surveys reveal a pervasive dissatisfaction with the state of democracy, with a majority of Americans expressing concern about the proliferation of misinformation. This decline in trust isn’t merely a matter of public opinion; it poses a significant threat to the stability of democratic institutions, both in the United States and globally. The increasing prevalence of misinformation and disinformation campaigns, amplified by technological advancements, sows doubt about electoral processes, undermining the very foundation of representative government.

From unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud to distorted narratives surrounding critical issues like abortion and immigration, the corrosive impact of misinformation is evident across the political spectrum. Even government responses to natural disasters, like Hurricane Helene, become targets of misinformation, further eroding public confidence. This trend threatens to destabilize democratic processes and disenfranchise voters, particularly those from historically marginalized communities. The Rise of Generative AI: A New Frontier in Misinformation While misinformation and disinformation have long been present in American politics, the advent of generative AI has drastically altered the landscape. The speed and scale at which false information can now spread pose an unprecedented challenge.

AI-powered tools enable the creation and dissemination of highly convincing fabricated content, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. This rapid spread of misinformation online can manipulate public perception and influence election outcomes, especially in closely contested races. The erosion of the traditional adage "I’ll believe it when I see it" underscores the profound impact of AI on information integrity. Now, a default position of skepticism is crucial in navigating the digital landscape, where fabricated content can seamlessly blend with reality. Shrinking Newsrooms and Social Media’s Ascendancy: A Perfect Storm for Misinformation Raquel Muñiz , Andrés Castro Samayoa, Shane Dunn

Election deniers are working to undermine confidence in our elections and suppress turnout, particularly among voters of color and other historically marginalized communities. The misinformation they propagate — including lies about the voting process and election workers — can have significant consequences for people’s ability to vote and trust in our elections. These threats are especially perilous today. Since 2020, prominent politicians and candidates for election administration positions have amplified the Big Lie of a “stolen” presidential election. These falsehoods spread rapidly on social media, with platforms unwilling or unable to intervene, fueling threats to election systems. Election misinformation is a danger to American democracy.

It menaces election officials, with 64 percent reporting in 2022 that the spread of false information has made their jobs more dangerous. It interferes with voters’ ability to understand and participate in political processes. And it has been weaponized by lawmakers to justify new voter suppression legislation. Congressional action, social media platform transparency, and accessible voter education can all help address the grave threat that election misinformation poses to our democracy. The Brennan Center is tracking rumors about voting and election administration to help provide accurate information to better inform voters. With misinformation on the rise and American voters increasingly losing faith in elections, USC experts explore strategies to restore confidence in democracy

Public trust in our free and fair elections — a fundamental pillar of American democracy — is eroding. We don’t need polls to tell us Americans are losing faith in democracy, though the numbers back it up: Recent survey data shows that almost 60% of Americans are dissatisfied with the current state... The flow of misinformation and coordinated disinformation campaigns are generating alarming levels of doubt among voters, USC experts say. From narratives around contentious issues like abortion and immigration to unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud, the damaging effects of misinformation on democracy are increasingly evident. Even misinformation surrounding federal responses to crises such as Hurricane Helene show how public perception can be swayed and the consequences that can follow. “In the long term, the greatest risk we face is the potential destabilization of not just American democracy, but democracies around the world,” said Mindy Romero, director and founder of the Center for Inclusive...

Corresponding author: Camila Mont’Alverne, Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Lord Hope Building, 141 St James Road, Glasgow G4 0LT, UK; email: camila.montalverne@strath.ac.uk. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits noncommercial reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial reuse, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com Electoral misinformation, where citizens believe false or misleading claims about the electoral process and electoral institutions—sometimes actively and strategically spread by political actors—is a challenge to public confidence in elections specifically and democracy more... In this article, we analyze a combination of 42 million clicks in links and apps from behavioral tracking data of 2,200 internet users and a four-wave panel survey to investigate how different kinds of... We find that, controlling for other factors, using news from legacy news media is associated with belief in fewer claims of electoral misinformation over time.

We find null or inconsistent effects for using digital-born news media and various digital platforms, including Facebook and WhatsApp. Furthermore, we find that trust in news plays a significant role as a moderator. Belief in electoral misinformation, in turn, undermines trust in news. Overall, our findings document the important role of the news media as an institution in curbing electoral misinformation, even as they also underline the precarity of trust in news during contentious political periods. Electoral misinformation, where citizens believe false or misleading claims about the electoral process and institutions—sometimes actively and strategically spread by political actors—is a challenge to public trust in elections specifically and democracy more broadly... What role do different kinds of news consumption, digital platform use, and trust in news play in hindering or helping the spread of such electoral misinformation?

These are the questions we address in this article. The context is one in which the rapid growth of digital media, especially widely used platforms like Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, and their competitors, and numerous documented cases of misinformation on many of them, has... As Nelson and Taneja (2018) have argued, “Social network sites play an outsized role in generating traffic to fake news.” But others have suggested that those concerned about misinformation spread, and people’s belief in... As Tsfati et al. (2020) write, “Mainstream news media [play] a significant and important role in the dissemination of fake news” (see also Allen et al. 2020).

While several empirical studies have cautioned that identified sources of false information are a small, even very small, part of most people’s media use (Watts, Rothschild, and Mobius 2021; Altay, Nielsen, and Fletcher 2022),... A recent Gallup poll showed public trust in the electoral process—a cornerstone of American democracy—is eroding as the rampant spread of misinformation and organized disinformation campaigns breed dangerous skepticism among voters. Now, with early voting underway and Election Day drawing near, the stakes are higher than ever. USC experts are available to provide insights on how misinformation spreads, the role of media and AI in safeguarding election integrity and potential solutions to restore voter confidence in democracy. Contact: Nina Raffio, raffio@usc.edu or (213) 442-8464; USC Media Relations, uscnews@usc.edu or (213) 740-2215 “One of the most dangerous consequences of the concerted disinformation efforts intended to undermine public confidence in our democratic institutions has been the attacks on the fairness of our elections,” said Tom Hollihan, an...

“This campaign, coupled by the efforts of former President Trump to overturn the results of the 2020 election, led to the violent protests of January 6th and the lingering distrust on the right today. It is imperative that all media outlets focus their efforts on rebutting mistruths and rehabilitating the public’s confidence in our elections. Misleading or untruthful posts should be called out and if possible removed,” said Hollihan, a professor of communication at the USC Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism.

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