signalmankenneth
Verified User
Trump trolls are using every last hour until the end of Election Day to spread misinformation, especially via Twitter. It started with fake[3] Clinton campaign ads photoshopped to look as though the campaign was telling supporters they could vote from home. The fraud was egregious enough that following a report from Buzzfeed[4] on these widely disseminated lies, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey told the site[5], "Not sure how this slipped past us, but now it’s fixed." That is, it was fixed for approximately five minutes, as the trolls are at it again.
As of this writing, the vote-by-text tweets persist, now joined by additional lies claiming that voters must bring at least seven forms of ID and that voting has been extended until November 9. Some are obviously fake, others so-called satire, but plenty of them are still modeled to look just like campaign ads, as seen below:
Busy voters might not notice that one of these tweets came from a user named Adorable Deplorable, or that there is no group called African Americans for President Hillary, as seen in one of the ads.
In response to Buzzfeed's request for comment on why Twitter hasn't taken additional steps to stop this misinformation, a Twitter spokesperson said [5]:
By Ilana Novick
As of this writing, the vote-by-text tweets persist, now joined by additional lies claiming that voters must bring at least seven forms of ID and that voting has been extended until November 9. Some are obviously fake, others so-called satire, but plenty of them are still modeled to look just like campaign ads, as seen below:
Busy voters might not notice that one of these tweets came from a user named Adorable Deplorable, or that there is no group called African Americans for President Hillary, as seen in one of the ads.
In response to Buzzfeed's request for comment on why Twitter hasn't taken additional steps to stop this misinformation, a Twitter spokesperson said [5]:
"Our goal is to increase engagement in the election process and encourage voter turnout. We are tweeting now, and through Election Day, informing people how and where they can vote. We’ve launched several features recently to support this cause including our DM tool that shares specific voting locations, candidate information, and other relevant info to inform voters as they head to the polls."
Technology can certainly make it easier to find your polling place, get information on candidates, and even in some cases register to vote. When it comes to actually casting your vote, however, there's no substitute for mailing in an official ballot or showing up to a polling site.
By Ilana Novick
