60% of Americans worry disinformation will influence midterm elections: Poll

A new poll shows more than 60 percent of Americans say they are worried that disinformation will influence people’s voting decisions for midterm elections, which Democrats are likely to lose to Republicans on November 8.

A poll from the Knight Foundation, a nonprofit that invests in journalism and the arts, and Ipsos found that more than 6 in 10 Americans said they are very or somewhat concerned about people in their community making decisions about how to vote in Tuesday’s midterm elections based on the false or misleading information.

Democracy depends on people voting, which depends on being informed, and the press is here to keep the people informed. Although simple in theory, in practice, there's a problem; Americans do not trust the media.

The news is questioned, doubted, and not believed by millions of people which is quite a challenge for democracy.

Trust in government, its institutions, and media are essential to the functioning of democracy in any country. Yet today, trust is declining.

The latest poll also found a quarter of respondents said they are concerned that they themselves might be tricked by false or misleading information, but 58 percent are concerned about others being misled.

However, most Democrats, Republicans and independents believe they will not be tricked by disinformation, but Democrats are much more likely to be worried about others being misled.

An astonishing majority of Democrats, 70 percent, surveyed said they are very or somewhat concerned about this, compared to 49 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of independents.  

About 75 percent of American respondents said false information about elections is a problem on social media, and almost 80 percent who voted in the 2020 presidential election said it is a problem. Only 64 percent of those who did not vote in 2020 said the same.

A majority of respondents think social media companies should be willing to take actions to limit disinformation, with 80 percent saying they should censor content that misleads voters about how to fill out mail-in ballots and 69 percent saying they should limit claims of election fraud with little or no evidence.

Another recent poll by Rasmussen Reports shows that most US voters believe fake news is a serious problem and don't trust the political views they get from the media.

About 62 percent of likely US voters think the problem of bias in the news media is getting worse, while 10 percent believe the media bias problem is actually getting better.

This certainly is not good news. Other polls have also come up with the same alarming figures. These figures need to be put into some sort of perspective.

Meanwhile, a poll last week found that almost two-thirds of Republicans in the US are concerned that the results from the November 8 midterm elections could be changed.

The USA Today/ Suffolk University poll, published last week, showed that 62 percent of registered Republicans voiced fears about the results of the midterm election being manipulated, while only 21 percent of Democrats agree the results could be changed.

Sixty-four percent of Republican respondents revealed they’ll cast their vote for a candidate who has questioned the legitimacy of Democratic President Joe Biden’s controversial 2020 election victory, compared to 84 percent of Democrats who said they will not.

The poll comes just days before midterm elections that will decide control of the House and Senate, along with crucial governor races across the country, which will shape the rest of Biden’s term.

Former Republican President Donald Trump and his allies have pushed claims about the 2020 election, with many GOP-led states passing laws to address the large claims of voting fraud.

Trump and his allies had raised concerns that widespread fraud marred the election and that it was rigged by the Washington establishment in favor of Biden, who was certified as the winner in Congress on January 6.

Most Americans do not trust the media

Americans do not trust the media; the news is questioned, doubted, and not believed by millions of people, which is quite a challenge for democracy.

Biden has warned the Republican Party in next week's midterm elections could set the nation on "the path to chaos".

Biden called on Americans to unite in opposition to "political violence" in Tuesday's midterm elections, which will determine control of both chambers of Congress and key state governorships.

"We must with an overwhelming voice stand against political violence and voter intimidation, period," he said. "Stand up and speak against it. We don't settle our differences in America with a riot, a mob, or a bullet or a hammer. We settle them peacefully at the ballot box."

He said Trump and his supporters were peddling "lies of conspiracy and malice".

'Chaos is US policy'

“Chaos is US policy, particularly that of Biden's administration and the Obama administration of which he was a part. Look at Libya, Syria, Yemen, much of Africa after Obama brought it Africom,” said New York-based journalist Don DeBar.

“And, by the way, Ukraine is probably the most chaotic real estate on the planet, thanks to the 2014 US coup,” he added.

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