Among many surprises in 2020, one was the huge number of Latinos from the state of Texas and Florida who voted for Donald Trump rather than Joe Biden. It is believed that this was a result of the misinformation that was spread online regarding the Democrat Biden.
However, it is very early to pinpoint the reasons regarding the favor of Latinos for Trump who has demonized the Latinos throughout his tenure and campaign. The US has about 60 million Latinos who belong from various parts of the world and different generations, religious, and social backgrounds.
Following this, the Democrats have been extremely wary regarding the impact of misinformation and fake news on social media platforms. This fake news is usually spread through Twitter and Facebook and other private messaging apps like Telegram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. Television and radio also take part in the spreading of fake news.
Researchers and officials have reported that they have been observing rampant patterns and cases of fake news on social media regarding the US presidential election. This misinformation has been targeting Latino voters. Several outrageous information regarding the Democrats has been fed to the Latinos. It is believed that this was a tactic used by the Republicans to swing the voters away from Biden and Harris.
Democrats are presently concerned about the Latinos voting in their favor in the midterm elections about to take place in 2022. They intend to track and strike down the fake news and propaganda information being thrown at them.
Timothy Durigan, the analyst of security for the Democratic Party, has recently stated that though there has been widespread misinformation being viral about Biden, the social media handles have not taken any strict measures to curb them. There must be some structural change for it to stop.
Though some warnings and removal has been done, the sheer amount of misinformation and blatant fake news has been overwhelming in amount and degree.
Fakes News About Democrats Target Latinos
One key misinformation thrown to Latinos is the fact that Biden is a complete radical socialist like Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. Fake news about the policies on abortion, religious freedom, and racial interrelation has also been circulating.
The Black Lives Matter campaign was also used against Biden. The Latinos were instigated against the Black citizens and the apparent support of the Democrats for the Blacks were seen as antagonistic by the Latinos.
Although Facebook has taken down nearly millions of posts and Twitter has been issuing rampant warnings and labels, the spread of misinformation could not be prevented. Additionally, YouTube and other social media platforms have been taking strict measures and keeping close tabs on US election posts.
The Democrats have been worried about this and intend to solve this issue as soon as possible.
