Your guide to spotting disinformation in U.S. and Washington state elections
Voters, this year will see more misleading claims than ever before.
We’ve pulled together tools to help you identify disinformation so you can focus on the facts.
Please read on, and share with friends.
Want to learn more? Watch our Disinformation in Local Elections discussion here.
Information that comes from an official source is not necessarily factual. Verify what you hear and read
- Politifact is a fact-checking website that verifies elected officials’ statements.
- FactCheck.Org aims to reduce the level of deception in U.S. politics.
- Google Fact-Check Explorer can tell you if a fact or claim has been investigated by a fact-checking organization.
Snopes was initially known for debunking urban legends, popular culture myths, and internet rumors and chain emails. However, it has since become an independent, investigative fact-checking website that also verifies political news.
Assume what you see on social media will need to be verified
- FactCheck.Org has a “misinformation directory” organized alphabetically of websites that have published misleading information. The Daily Dot put together a list of fake websites that appeared on Facebook.
- Have some fun with this Bad News Game and see how many “followers” you pick up along the way.
Check up on your author
Reputable news organizations use bylines to identify who reported and wrote the story. Reporters often have bios at the end of a story.
NewsGuard offers trust ratings for a majority of news sites. It even has a plugin for your browser.
Go straight to the source
Many public agencies have statistics, proposals and projects publicly available.
It’s not just words. Photos and videos are being manipulated
Take this Spot the Deepfake Quiz and see if you can effectively identify what’s real and what is not.
Subscribe to Fact-Checking Newsletters & Podcasts
- Get Smart About News is a weekly newsletter “shares the latest examples of misinformation.” Subscribe here.
- The Poynter Institute runs Factually, an accountability journalism and fact-checking newsletter. Sign up here
- The “Is That a Fact?” podcast addresses the impact of disinformation on American democracy. The 10-episode podcast is here.
- NPR has an archive of its fact-checking audio stories here.
Report Fake News On Social Media
You can also join the fight against falsehoods in your feeds. On Twitter, users can report a tweet for being “misleading about a political election or other civic event.” Instructions here. Facebook has said it is taking steps to reduce voter interference.
VOTER INFORMATION
How to register to vote, and check your voter status: voter.votewa.gov
How to vote by mail: www.sos.wa.gov/elections/faq_vote_by_mail.aspx
Track your mail-in ballot: voter.votewa.gov
Top Stories
Your mail ballot is coming: How to make sure it gets counted
Find full election coverage here.
This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Your guide to spotting disinformation in U.S. and Washington state elections."