As one of the fastest growing demographics in the United States, Latinos are projected to make up more than 15% of all eligible voters in the November election. But many are being targeted with political disinformation on social media platforms.
WKAR’s Michelle Jokisch Polo spoke with University of Michigan election researcher Francy Luna-Diaz on how misinformation is affecting the state’s Spanish speaking community.
Interview Highlights
On how misinformation shows up on social media platforms like WhatsApp
There are different groups, many of them are based on common backgrounds. Somebody who may just be a regular person shares something that they're concerned about, that caught their eye, that they found online, that they're worried about, so they want to share this. They want to have a conversation with other people. This ends up disseminating information that is not accurate, that is really difficult to verify.
On why disinformation can go unchecked on places like WhatsApp
In spaces in which Latinos are, for instance, WhatsApp, or different groups that are more private, there's not really that same type of monitoring that there is for other groups or the type of political fact checking that there is for other virtual spaces.
On the long-term consequences misinformation can have on the Latino community
In spaces in which Latinos are, for instance, WhatsApp, or different groups that are more private, there's not really that same type of monitoring that there is for other groups or the type of political fact checking that there is for other virtual spaces.
Interview Transcript
Melory Begay: As one of the fastest growing demographics in the United States, Latinos are projected to make up more than 15% of all eligible voters in the November election. But many are being targeted with political disinformation on social media platforms.
WKAR’s Michelle Jokisch Polo spoke with University of Michigan election researcher Francy Luna-Diaz on how misinformation is affecting the state’s Spanish speaking community.
Michelle Jokisch Polo: We know that there are nearly 400,000 eligible Latinx voters here, and many of them access their news and information on popular messaging platforms like WhatsApp. How does misleading information show up there?
Francy Luna Diaz: One of the things that I am finding out is that there are these communities that are being built, these different groups that are being built, many of them are based on common backgrounds. So for example, there are people who may share like something that they did when they were younger, or communities that form around some shared interest, some shared background. A lot of these oftentimes form without any political intention.
They're very often about sharing resources, sharing information, but it oftentimes can serve as a place where misinformation can travel.
I like to call it misinformation, rather than disinformation, because this is not an actor who's intentionally trying to mislead the users or the public.
But rather somebody who may just be a regular person sharing something that they're concerned about, that caught their eye, that they found online, that they're worried about so they want to share this. They want to have a conversation with other people. This ends up disseminating information that is not accurate, that is really difficult to verify.
Jokisch Polo: How much leverage would you say misinformation on platforms like WhatsApp has to change people’s opinions on political issues?
Luna Diaz: Usually information that is a onetime message that you receive does not have a lot of power to sway your opinion, except for a few factors. For example, if this information is closer to what you already believe or some preconceived notions that you have or that is closer to your political attitude, that reinforces something that you believe politically, it is more likely to have an impact. But I do suspect that repeatedly hearing misinformation probably has an effect. The more that you hear it, the more that you're going to start to believe that it's true. Just from exposure of spaces in which Latinos are, for instance, WhatsApp, or different like groups that are more private, there's not really that same type of monitoring that there is for other groups or the type of political fact checking that there is for other virtual spaces.
Jokisch Polo: I experienced firsthand the way disinformation can be dangerous. My family, they're on WhatsApp, both of my parents are on WhatsApp; and when the COVID pandemic hit in 2020, my parents found comfort in information that discussed alternative advice. When they did get COVID, they ended up taking some of those medications and delaying going to the hospital. And eventually, luckily, they did go to the hospital and got care, but they were there for about three weeks. What challenges would you say are there in ensuring Latino voters receive accurate information in the current misinformation environment?
Luna Diaz: There's a lot of different challenges that arise from this. Some of the more obvious ones are attempts to misinform people about like locations for voting, or like whether they can do certain things, like voting without an ID, which is something that you can do in Michigan. Other more longer term consequences can also be mistrust of the government in general.
A lot of disinformation and misinformation that I find that is getting to Latinos, for example, saying that the government is conspiring to abduct children, just things that you wouldn't think that people would believe but it has some purchase amongst Latino. The long-term effect of these would be to create more and more mistrust of official sources, of the government, of people that are going to be providing good information. So, it becomes, in a sense, a self-fulfilling cycle of mistrust and them seeking alternative sources of information that are not going to be as accurate or that are not going to be well intentioned.
Jokisch Polo: Are there any initiatives or campaigns working to address these challenges??
Luna Diaz: I know in Michigan, the Secretary of State actually has several initiatives to try to inform voters about their rights and about how to access voting and go to the polls. In What's App itself, there’s these new channels that are being formed and many of them are political fact checking. While they do share really good information, I'm actually part of a few. They’re very easy to join but you do have to have the motivation to join them in the first place. There needs to be a better, more investment, more of a widespread effort, to combat misinformation, because there's just so much of it, it's really difficult to kind of tackle the problem. It's a little bit like playing Whack a Mole, but I know there is efforts. There are at least more efforts than there were in 2016 that I'm aware of. I'm hoping that there's more investment in part of different sources to actually combat this misinformation for Latinos.
Begay: That was Francy Luna Diaz, doctoral candidate in political science at the University of Michigan speaking with WKAR’s Latinx stories reporter Michelle Jokisch Polo.
