Article Summary –
The article discusses the prevalence of disinformation in American politics, with a focus on the presidential campaigns of Joe Biden and Donald Trump. It refers to Sasha Issenberg’s new book, The Lie Detectives, which investigates this issue and highlights the impact of voter suppression and micro-targeting on election outcomes. The article also mentions the potential influence of AI on future elections, the threat to free speech from government attempts to control misinformation, and the alarming prospect of a ‘Trump Vengeance tour’ targeting journalists for prosecution.
Aging Biden Loses Supporters; Trump Threatens Democracy
Joe Biden’s age is becoming a sore point for many of his previous backers who see him as too old. On the other hand, his 77-year-old predecessor Donald Trump, infamous for his calls to suspend the constitution and threats against Nato, continues to loom over the US political landscape.
The Lie Detectives Examines Disinformation in Politics
In this grim scenario, Sasha Issenberg unveils ‘The Lie Detectives’, a comprehensive study of disinformation in politics. This follows his earlier work, ‘The Victory Lab’, which scrutinized the “getting out the vote” (GOTV) concept, just before the 2012 US election.
Issenberg, a lecturer at UCLA and writer for Monocle, is well-versed in analyzing presidential campaigns and the complexities of voting science.
The Power of Micro-Targeting in Politics
Both ‘The Victory Lab’ and ‘The Lie Detectives’ concentrate on the potent strategy of winning campaigns – micro-targeting voters. Ideological conflicts have become integral to American politics, a trend that Issenberg predicted over a decade ago.
In 2016, the Trump campaign’s top officials declared their use of the internet to discourage potential Clinton supporters. They described this as “micro-targeting on steroids”.
Countering Disinformation: A Key Democratic Strategy
In ‘The Lie Detectives’, Issenberg highlights Jiore Craig, a key player in the Democrats’ fight against disinformation. Craig’s experience spans over a dozen elections across six continents, giving her a unique perspective on the US political scene.
However, no party has a monopoly on disinformation. In a 2017 special election for US Senate in Alabama, Democratic consultants launched a disinformation campaign urging Republicans to cast write-in ballots instead of voting for their own candidate. This influenced the win margin significantly.
AI-Generated Robocalls & Deepfakes – The Future of Political Campaigns?
Steve Kramer, a seasoned campaign expert, recently made headlines for launching an AI-generated robocall that mimicked President Biden. He also commissioned a deepfake impersonation of Senator Lindsey Graham. Such instances underscore that disinformation is an enduring element of political campaigns.
A Threat to Free Speech?
Last fall, Biden’s administration was accused of violating the first amendment by trying to curb Covid-related misinformation. The case is still on appeal, and its outcome could have profound implications on free speech regulations in the country.
Issenberg notes that Trump’s current presidential campaign vows to prevent government agencies from labeling domestic speech as misinformation. However, this appears to be more of a strategy for targeting dissenting journalists than a commitment to free speech.
As the Trump Vengeance tour unfolds, the battle against disinformation continues to shape the American political landscape.
Read More US Political News
This article may have been created with the assistance of AI.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics.
