Crowdsourced fact-checking fights misinformation in Taiwan

Ahead of the midterms, election officials ramped up their communication, outreach, and transparency efforts, setting up live cameras at ballot boxes and in counting rooms, offering special sealed ballots to voters who requested their ballot be hand-counted, and coordinating with organizations that trained volunteers to prevent voter intimidation at polling sites. Though a handful of election deniers continued to sow doubt in the system, experts and poll workers say the election generally ran smoothly and the majority of losing candidates have accepted the results of their races.

To combat the spread of mis- and disinformation online, Singapore passed the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, which allows the government to order that corrections be added to posts containing false information or even block access to certain content. So far, 152 orders have been issued under the act, with most of the flagged content relating to public health, public order, or trust in government functions.

Ahead of Nigeria’s general election, a group of 12 media platforms and civil society organizations worked together as the Nigeria Factcheckers Coalition to debunk false information targeting voters. The coalition, which provided training and tools to participating journalists, fact-checked 127 during the week of the elections.

To “inoculate” internet users against fake news, a collaboration between Google and YouTube played ads before videos explaining misinformation concepts such as scapegoating and false dichotomies. A study of 20,000 people who interacted with the ads found that those who viewed them were better able to spot manipulation tactics online.

The Election Registration Information Center allows states to check for duplicate voter registrations across state lines and identify voters who have moved or died. At one time, a total of 33 states participated in the database, but several have since left the partnership as a result of disinformation about how the effort is funded.

Alongside other digital services offered by the government, Estonia allows its citizens to vote in elections via the Internet with a system that uses ID cards and secure PIN codes to verify voters' identities. In 2023, more residents cast votes digitally than in-person for the first time ever.

To combat mis- and disinformation, Nigerian startup FactCheck Elections monitors voting results and verifies claims made during political debates and then distributes vetted information via articles, infographics, visual media, and social media. The organization has published more than 100 fact-checks so far.

To bolster the security of the 2022 midterm election, officials released frequent alerts and updates about disinformation, cyber threats, and potential physical threats to election workers. A special task force investigated threats against election officials and brought forward four federal cases and several state prosecutions related to the incidents.

After two years of planning around how to respond to conspiracy theories and misinformation during the 2022 midterm election, officials in Maricopa County quickly sprung into action to communicate with the public about a printing error that caused some ballots to be rejected by voting machines. Social media analysis found that claims of fraud related to the machine malfunction gained far less traction than conspiracy theories about fraud in Maricopa County during the 2020 election.

Ahead of the 2022 midterms, election officials across the country ramped up their social media efforts by leveraging strategies used by those who spread disinformation, with many local governments using templates created by the National Association of State Election Directors. Officials also used social media to quell rumors and conspiracy theories in the midst of the election, such as in Maricopa County, where quick online outreach about technical difficulties with voting machines resulted in less online speculation than the county experienced in 2020.