Pandemic Misinformation Likely To Shape Election Day And Beyond

The New York Times: Battleground States See The Most Voting Misinformation 
Which states have seen the highest volume of viral misinformation about voting by mail this election season? Those that are most in play between President Trump and Joseph R. Biden Jr., according to new data. People in several battleground states, which are likely to decide the presidential race, saw the most distortions and falsehoods about voting by mail between Sept. 1 and Oct. 29, according to Zignal Labs, a media insights company that tallied the likely misinformation mentions across online news outlets, cable television, print and social media. (Alba, 11/2)

The Washington Post: Robocalls Spook Voters With Warning To ‘Stay Home’ 
An unidentified robocaller has placed an estimated 10 million calls in the past several weeks warning people to “stay safe and stay home,” spooking some Americans who said they saw it as an attempt to scare them away from the polls on Election Day. (Romm and Stanley-Becker, 11/3)

AP: Widely Shared Photo Of Biden Without Mask Was Taken In 2019
President Donald Trump’s supporters have seized on a photo circulating on Twitter since late Sunday that shows Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden not wearing a mask while he talks to a campaign staffer on a plane. Why wasn’t Biden, who has made a point to put on a facial covering throughout the campaign, wearing a mask? Because the photo was taken in November 2019. ... The image was shared on Twitter by Trump’s former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, where it was liked and shared from his account more than 50,000 times. (Seitz, 11/2)

ProPublica: Misinformation Image On WeChat Attempts To Frighten Chinese Americans Out Of Voting 
At least two dozen groups on the Chinese-owned social media app WeChat have been circulating misinformation that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is “preparing to mobilize” the National Guard and “dispatch” the military to quell impending riots, apparently in an attempt to frighten Chinese Americans into staying home on Election Day. The misinformation, which takes the form of a photo of a flyer and is in both English and Chinese, also warns that the government plans to impose a national two-week quarantine and close all businesses. (Rodriguez, Lin and Huseman, 11/2)

The New York Times: What To Expect From Facebook, Twitter And YouTube On Election Day 
Facebook, YouTube and Twitter were misused by Russians to inflame American voters with divisive messages before the 2016 presidential election. The companies have spent the past four years trying to ensure that this November isn’t a repeat. They have spent billions of dollars improving their sites’ security, policies and processes. In recent months, with fears rising that violence may break out after the election, the companies have taken numerous steps to clamp down on falsehoods and highlight accurate and verified information. We asked Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to walk us through what they were, are and will be doing before, on and after Tuesday. Here’s a guide. (Isaac, Conger and Wakabayashi, 11/2)

KHN and The Guardian: ‘His Lies Are Killing My Neighbors’: Swing-State Doctors Target Trump
Dr. Chris Kapsner intubated his first COVID-19 patient — a 47-year-old man who arrived short of breath at an emergency room in Minnesota’s Twin Cities — back in April. Now, seven months later, Kapsner, who lives across the border in Wisconsin, is weary and exhausted from the steady stream of patients arriving with a virus that is spreading across this part of the Midwest. Hospital beds and personal protective equipment are in short supply, and his colleagues are getting sick. “Even if we put up all the field tents in the world, we don’t have the staff for this,” he said. (Renwick, 11/2)

KHN and Politifact: How COVID Death Counts Become The Stuff Of Conspiracy Theories 
In the waning days of the campaign, President Donald Trump complained repeatedly about how the United States tracks the number of people who have died from COVID-19, claiming, “This country and its reporting systems are just not doing it right.” He went on to blame those reporting systems for inflating the number of deaths, pointing a finger at medical professionals, who he said benefit financially. All that feeds into the swirling political doubts that surround the pandemic, and raises questions about how deaths are reported and tallied. (Knight and Appleby, 11/2)