Social media fights misinformation in 2024 elections

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- If you've been on social media at all recently your news feed is probably filled with political posts. But there is a lot of misinformation and disinformation out there.

"The biggest thing to do is check multiple sources," Dr. Talia Stroud said. She is director for the Center of Media Engagement at the University of Texas-Austin.

Stroud said you can fall victim if you are not paying attention to where the information is coming from.

"If it's an influencer whose expertise is music, for example, then think carefully. Ask yourself why am I trusting this source? Is this information legitimate? You should really look to trusted sources of information," Stroud added.

One app that is popular with young voters is TikTok. The company has set-up what it's calling the US Elections Integrity Hub. The app said it is constantly removing videos that provide "misinformation," and it will not recommend content to users if its unverified.

"I think the 2024 election cycle is unique," Brandon Boatwright said. The Clemson University professor runs the school's Social Media Listening Center. It studies what people are saying online and how.

"The rise of influencers and the importance they have, and then the multitude of different platforms that are available now, than say in 2008, when there was a large conversation about the role of social media during that election cycle," Boatwright said.

If you end up finding something false online, Stroud recommends you report it then and there.

"It's one of the many signals that organizations, like Meta, use to try and identify problematic content on the platform," she said.

If it sounds too unbelievable to be true this election season, it probably is.