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If you're unlucky enough to be required to spend any time on Elon Musk's X, as we journalists are, you might well have been dragged through the bombshell investigative report -- pardon us, idiotic conspiracy theory -- that state Rep. James Talarico was seeking mental health assistance at a hospital in Ohio.
Talarico had the flu. His campaign told everyone, including us, he had the flu. It's flu season. People all over are getting the flu. He shakes hands with lots of people. The story seemed very believable.
Alas, his explanation was too pedestrian for the MAGAsphere and its Musk-powered amplifier. Talarico's opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, insinuated in a post on X that the Democrat had had a nervous breakdown.
That was all X needed. Then the algorithms did their work. The claim was shared and reposted and embellished. One right-wing influencer posted that he had PROOF! in the form of a heavily edited recording of a phone call that Talarico had checked into the mental health hospital. (The facility was bombarded with calls and took the highly unusual step of issuing a statement that Talarico had not been a patient there.)
American social media users helped that story go viral. Russian trolls got in on the game too, though they joined too late to make much difference, according to a researcher who analyzes online disinformation. Nor does the story seem to have influenced the race, except by damaging Paxton's tattered reputation even more.
But the larger lesson is clear: Social media as it now exists has become hazardous to our body politic. Simply posting a falsehood on X is relatively quaint compared to the high-quality deep fake videos now circulating online, which can be made to say or do almost anything. Such videoclips may even include the logo of a recognized news organization, such as CNN, and appear to be part of a legitimate interview, but they're imposters. We're somewhat surprised a deepfake of Talarico at the facility didn't emerge.
For average people, it is time-consuming and difficult to determine who or what entity is really behind a social media post and whether the claim involved is true. Social media companies have little financial incentive to verify posts, especially because outrageous ones drive up engagement. The companies rarely face legal consequences for allowing harmful content. Musk seems to revel in it. Congress has not yet accepted its responsibility to better police social media platforms.
Voters are not powerless. They can ignore items shared on social media and search for reliable information directly from well-established news organizations. And there's a highly effective way to hold politicians who promote falsehoods accountable: Don't elect them.
ONLINE: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/article/talarico-paxton-flu-disinformation-mental-hospital-22478625.php