Election Day is finally here. We’ve rounded up some tips on avoiding misinformation and other tech-related news as an unprecedented election reaches its climax.
- Jevin West, an associate professor with the University of Washington and a director with the UW’s Center for an Informed Public (CIP), tells TIME that there will likely be more uncertainty today than any election in our lifetime. He said people should be wary of cherry-picked images presented out of context, and to cross-check election results with official election administrators.
- West also provided prescient advice back in January: “Think more, share less.”
- Kate Starbird, also a director with the UW’s CIP, said the uncertainty and misinformation will extend beyond Tuesday. “People are going to be vulnerable on both sides of the political spectrum,” she said in a conference call Tuesday morning. “And there’s going to be a lot of very strategic efforts to manipulate that uncertainty and that confusion … towards trying to lay the groundwork for legal challenges,” she said, referring to efforts to contest the outcome of the presidential election in court.
- Researchers from the UW and Washington State University offered up tips on “surviving the coronavirus infodemic” earlier this year, and their advice applies on Election Day as well. Slow down, cross-check info with multiple sources, and respectfully correct misinformation, including to friends, family and colleagues who passed it along.
- BuzzFeed reporter Jane Lytvynenko has a good Twitter thread with various tools and tips to spot misinformation. “The vast majority of false information we see comes in the form of images, videos, and memes,” she wrote. “Be on the lookout for those and don’t share without checking.” Pay attention to “context clues” and the accounts spreading information, Lytvynenko advises.
- The New York Times lists six common false claims that you might see on Tuesday, including people voting more than once or that ballots are being thrown away.
- Seattle-based fact-checking organization Snopes is tracking misinformation on Election Day.
- ArsTechnica recaps how Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Reddit are handling misleading content.
- The future for tech industry giants won’t change much based on who wins the presidential election, Axios reported this week, noting that antitrust scrutiny and U.S.-China tensions will continue no matter what.
- However, American Public Media’s Marketplace said that the election will “set the course for tech policy for years to come,” citing differences between Trump and Biden on immigration policy and net neutrality.
- Who’s backing Biden? Here’s a list of well-heeled technology business leaders from the Seattle region who have helped the Democratic candidate raise at least $100,000.
