AI-generated election misinformation is spreading across social media ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, and experts warn that much of it may be escaping detection. The reason, they say, is a mix of cheap generative tools and platforms that have scaled back human moderation in favor of automated systems.
AI makes it easy to produce convincing fake images, videos and claims in large numbers. Major social networks have reduced some of the teams responsible for checking content, which leaves automated filters and ordinary users to catch more of the falsehoods.
"You can run an information operation now with quality that was impossible in 2016 for super, super cheap," Frances Haugen, the former Facebook data engineer who became a whistleblower, told The Guardian.
Haugen also described how people spreading misinformation can get around moderation. By making small changes to each version of a false claim, they can create posts that slip past automated filters, even when similar content has already been flagged.
A rumor involving Texas Senate candidate James Talarico illustrates the problem. Earlier this month, posts on X claimed the Democratic candidate was receiving treatment at a mental health center in Ohio. In fact, he was at home with the flu. The hospital and Talarico denied the claim within hours, according to La Voce di New York. The rumor kept circulating for days anyway.
Researchers at the Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas, which monitors misinformation aimed at Latino voters, found that the story changed as it moved through Spanish-language media. It evolved into a false claim that Talarico had attempted to take his own life. Researchers said that correcting the original allegation did not stop the altered version from spreading.
Roberta Braga, the institute's founder, said platforms apply their rules less consistently to Spanish-language content than to English-language posts.
"Now that they're using AI to do a lot of the content moderation, even more is likely slipping through the cracks," she said.
AI-generated material is also showing up in official campaign advertising. Ken Paxton, the Republican challenging Talarico, ran an advertisement that featured AI-generated images of the Democratic candidate. The ad disclosed its use of AI. Some states have introduced rules requiring such disclosures, including Pennsylvania.
The major platforms take different approaches to political misinformation, but their rules cover only certain kinds of content. Meta labels AI-generated images it can identify and requires political advertisers to disclose AI use. YouTube prohibits false claims about when, where and how people can vote. X relies largely on Community Notes, its crowdsourced fact-checking system. Many other misleading political claims fall outside those specific rules.
Meta and X did not respond to requests for comment from The Guardian. YouTube said the same guidelines apply to all users, including political candidates.
The problem extends beyond the United States. In Spain, a political party faces a court complaint over a deepfake election video.
As campaigns increasingly use AI to create and distribute content, the challenge for platforms is not only identifying synthetic media. It is also catching false claims that change as they spread across languages and communities, often faster than corrections can follow.
Questo articolo è stato scritto con l'assistenza dell'IA.
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