THE US PRESIDENTIAL RACE IS THE MOST TARGETED TOPIC BY FALSE STORIES, WHILE DISINFORMATION ABOUT IMMIGRATION REMAINS INTENSE
The 36 organizations* part of the EDMO fact-checking network that contributed to this brief published a total
of 1.817 fact-checking articles in September 2024. Out of these articles, 107 (6%) focused on Ukraine-related disinformation; 125 (7%) on climate change-related disinformation; 71 (4%) on disinformation related to the EU; 83 (5%) on the conflict between Israel and Hamas; 116 (6%) on COVID-19-related disinformation; 163 (9%) on disinformation related to immigration; and 61 (3%) on disinformation about LGBTQ+ and gender issues.
Disinformation about migration remained stable and relatively high in September, after a significant increase in previous months. Both the percentages of false stories about the conflict in the Middle East and COVID-19-related issues increased slightly after reaching their lowest levels during the summer. False information about the other constantly monitored topics remained stable or decreased slightly, as in the case of EU-related and LGBTQ+-related disinformation.
US Presidential election-related disinformation, new in the quantitative monitoring of the EDMO fact-checking network, emerges as the most targeted by baseless claims and stories.
DISINFORMATION ABOUT THE US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN: QUALITATIVE MONITORING
As highlighted in the previous slide, the presidential race in the US continues to gain growing attention in disinformation narratives in the EU. The false stories circulating on the issue mainly target the Democratic candidate, current Vice President Kamala Harris, often exploiting misogynistic biases. In September, she was accused of seriously injuring a girl in a car accident, of being friends with criminals and sex offenders, of cheating during the presidential debate, of being drunk or interested in promoting dystopian agendas and of being a former sex worker. Also people backing her, e.g. singer Taylor Swift, are discredited by baseless information. These false stories are in line with those reported in the previous months, which questioned Harris’ intellectual and moral integrity to undermine her public representation, as underlined in a recent EDMO article on the issue.
At the same time, other false stories amplify the rhetoric and arguments adopted by the other candidate, former President Donald Trump. The claim that migrants in Ohio would be eating citizens’ pets that he made during the sole candidate debate with Harris has been shared massively on social media in the European infosphere, resulting as the most widespread false story detected by European fact-checkers in September (see slide 8).
In other cases, false stories amplify his victimist rhetoric and try to exploit the attempts on his life for political gain (we previously reported conspiracy theories attacking Trump, claiming the attacks were “false flag” operations aimed at increasing his popularity).
Trump himself has been the target of some false stories aimed at discrediting him, but on a much smaller scale than the wave
of false accusations made against Harris.
Read here the full report
* Organizations that contributed to this brief: 15min, AFP, APA, Correctiv, Demagog.cz, Demagog.pl, Demagog.sk, DPA, DW, Eesti Päevaleht, EFE Verifica, Ellinika Hoaxes, Fact Check Cyprus, Factico, FactReview, Faktisk, FranceTV, Funky, Greece Fact Check, Källkritikbyrån, Knack, InfoVeritas, Lakmusz, Les Surligneurs, Logically Facts, Maldita, Newtral, Oštro, PagellaPolitica/Facta, Polígrafo, Pravda, Re:Baltica, The Journal Fact-Check, TjekDet, VerificaRTVE, Verificat
