The US presidential election in November 2024 and the entire campaign surrounding it, has been affected by disinformation and manipulation of information.
This 2024 election opposed Kamala Harris of the Democratic Party and Donald Trump of the Republican Party. Kamala Harris replaced the former president Joe Biden in the presidential campaign, in July 2024. Much of this campaign has suffered from disinformation, particularly on social media.
The word disinformation is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary, as: “false information spread in order to deceive people”. This refers to all communication practices and techniques aimed at influencing public opinion by deliberately disseminating fake news, for example. These communication practices have a long history, which does not begin with social media. To illustrate, different types of propaganda have been communicated on paper support.
In fact, the use of manipulation of information in presidential campaigns is not new. Indeed, disinformation was a crucial issue in previous campaigns, like in 2016 and in 2020, when a lot of fake celebrity endorsements, fake videos or decontextualized videos were published on social media.
The Pew Research Center did a survey about “Americans’ Views of 2024 Election News”. 69% of Americans were very closely following the news about the candidates for the 2024 presidential election . Moreover, 73% have seen inaccurate news about the election quite often.
The freedom of speech is an important principle, but which can be problematic in regard of the massive spread of fake news.
The use of various problematic techniques
Different techniques are used to manipulate information in order to influence the public opinion, and there are a lot of examples.
First, during the previous election in 2020, Donald Trump refused to accept that Joe Biden had become the President of the USA. OnThe 6th January 2021, he incited the crowd to storm the Capitol. Social media had an important role in this situation, as they enabled the attack to be relayed in real time and amplified its impact.
Next, Donald Trump used his social media and different speeches to discredit Kamala Harris by diffusing false information. For example, the supporters of the Republican candidate have accused her of not having been born in America, and, therefore, not being eligible for the presidential election. Trump also accused the Democrats of bringing in migrants to vote illegally for Kamala Harris. On the 11th September 2024, during a presidential debate Trump said: « In Springfield, they are eating the dogs. The people that came in, they are eating the cats. They’re eating – they are eating the pets of the people that live there. ». The whole speech contained a lot of such disinformation to discredit the Democrats and their opinion about immigration.
Finally, in 2016, the Russian government has used social media to interfere in the US presidential election by spreading false information. Similarly, during the 2024 presidential election, Russia’s disinformation operations have interfered with public opinion. by, among others, inciting to violence.
The consequences of disinformation
The disinformation and the fake news can have a lot of consequences. The use of social media makes it even easier to spread false information.
The first consequence of disinformation, especially concerning the presidential elections, is the negative impact on democracy. Indeed, fake news can influence the votes and have a major impact on the results of elections.
Then, the disinformation can create confusion in the citizens minds. With all the different traditional media and social media, it’s very difficult to find the correct information. The accurate news are lost under the large amount of fake news.
Disinformation is also a cause of violent actions and social tensions. It can exacerbate ethnic, racial, nationalist, and religious tensions.
A comparison with the French regulations for the presidential elections
In France, the presidential campaign is controlled by different regulatory authorities, for example the ARCOM. This authority controls the speaking time of candidates or political parties on public television and radio channels.
During the three months before a national election, online platform operators are required to respect a certain transparency concerning the promotion of content about the presidential campaign. Every person who does not respect this obligation will be sanctioned with a one-year imprisonment and 75.000 euros fine. In this time lap, an emergency procedure is available to stop the publishing of inaccurate information which can affect a future vote.
Julie Branco de Véra
M2 Cyberjustice – Promotion 2024-2025
Sources:
DISINFORMATION – Dictionnaire anglais Cambridge
Misinformation – Research and data from Pew Research Center
Les grands principes encadrant la campagne électorale | Les élections en France
