DeepSummary
In this episode of WIRED Politics Lab, co-hosts Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor from the Pod Save America podcast discuss the challenges of combating misinformation and disinformation in the 2024 election, and how the Biden administration is responding to these threats. They talk about the proliferation of deceptively edited videos and conspiracy theories on social media platforms, and the difficulties campaigns face in fighting against them.
Favreau and Vietor share their insights on the strategies used by the Biden campaign in 2020 to address misinformation, such as focusing on the core concerns behind false narratives rather than directly rebutting them. They also discuss the role of influencers and celebrities in reaching younger audiences, and the need for in-person organizing to build trust.
The conversation also touches on the challenges faced by the Biden administration in addressing domestic disinformation, the potential impact of AI chatbots refusing to acknowledge election results, and the rise of election denialism among Republican candidates. Overall, the episode highlights the complexity of the misinformation landscape and the need for new approaches to counter it.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Misinformation and disinformation pose significant challenges for political campaigns, particularly in the rapidly evolving social media landscape.
- The Biden administration faces difficulties in addressing domestic disinformation and conspiracy theories, given legal constraints and concerns about government overreach.
- Relational organizing and in-person outreach may be key to counteracting the spread of misinformation and building trust with voters.
- Campaigns must find ways to connect with younger audiences through influencers and social media personalities while maintaining authenticity.
- Election denialism and conspiracy theories have become increasingly prevalent among Republican candidates, posing a threat to democratic norms.
- Strategies for combating misinformation should focus on understanding the underlying concerns driving belief in false narratives, rather than direct rebuttals.
- Verifying information from legitimate sources and relying on trusted voices is crucial for navigating the misinformation landscape.
- Platforms like TikTok and messaging apps like WhatsApp have become breeding grounds for the spread of misinformation, posing new challenges for campaigns.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “You have to find voices that you trust that are actually vetting information and follow those people and try to tune out the thing that's just super viral. That is just from someone you've never heard of.“ by Tommy Vietor
- “I think the disinformation conversation we're having earlier, I think there's no way for the Biden folks to stop these deceptively edited videos from going around. Right. They can yell at the New York Post, for example, and say, hey, you guys are a news gathering organization, and yet you took a video from the RNC, further cropped it to make it more misleading and then put it on your platform. That's embarrassing for you. I think that's sort of like a worthwhile exercise, but they can't stop, like, cat turd 420 or whatever that prick's name is from spreading it to his millions of followers.“ by Tommy Vietor
- “The thing that really stuck in my head ever since I watched it was because a couple weeks back, Trump went to an MMA fight in, like, Newark or something. He walks into the stadium with Dana White, the head of the UFC, 16,000 people cheer for him. He, like, daps up with, like, Logan Paul and all these guys, and they're all just taking content, right? And the MMA, the crypto bros, the kind of Paul brothers, like, they have a very smart strategy to find those people. Like, talk to them on their channels. The Nelk boys, whatever. These. Some of your listeners probably never heard of it, but they're like. Like, YouTube pages with millions and millions of followers.“ by Tommy Vietor
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Episode Information
WIRED Politics Lab
WIRED
6/27/24
Today on WIRED Politics Lab, Pod Save America co-hosts Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor join the show to discuss what the Biden administration has to say about Disinformation. Plus, how to wade through the social media muck and stay informed through this election.
Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. Jon Favreau is @jonfavs. Tommy Vietor is @TVietor08. Write to us at politicslab@WIRED.com. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.
Mentioned this week:
Google’s and Microsoft’s AI Chatbots Refuse to Say Who Won the 2020 US Election by David Gilbert
Extremist Militias Are Coordinating in More Than 100 Facebook Groups by Tess Owen
The Biden admin has no firm plan to call out domestic disinformation in the 2024 election By Dan De Luce and Ken Dilanian, NBC
How the Right Won the Internet and How the Left is Fighting Back Journalist Sasha Issenberg on Offline with Jon Favreau
Democracy or Else By Jon Favreau, Tommy Vietor and Jon Lovett