Disinformation

It’s an election year, and disinformation is in the news once again.

The year started off with influence campaigns focused on both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primaries – including robocalls featuring an AI-generated “audio deepfake” simulating President Biden’s voice. Weeks later, deepfake images circulated widely of former president Trump purporting to smile with a group of Black voters. As election season continues, disinformation will only continue to proliferate — particularly when there’s breaking and dramatic news, such as the assassination attempt on former president Trump and President Biden’s decision to end his campaign and support Vice President Harris.

The goals of these disinformation campaigns are familiar: to smear an opponent for political gain, damage trust in our election system, and mobilize or suppress voter participation. Technological advances like generative AI, however, have made it easier than ever to produce and distribute deceptive content.

These escalating threats to our democracy come at a time when social media platforms have scaled back their content moderation programs, and aggressive legal and legislative pressure from politicians has put a chill on counter-disinformation research and coordination.

This moment calls for innovative approaches to tackling false information, and PEN America is supporting journalists, policy makers, and communities across the country in fighting disinformation. We invite you to get involved.

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