美国国家公共电台 NPR--Social media firms are prepping for the midterms. Experts say it may not be enough

Social media firms are prepping for the midterms. Experts say it may not be enough

Transcript¹

With two months to go until the midterms, tech companies are getting ready: rolling out fact checks, labeling misleading claims and setting up voting guides.

The election playbooks being used by Facebook, Twitter, Google-owned YouTube and TikTok are largely in line with those they used in 2020, when they warned that both foreign and domestic actors were seeking to undermine confidence in the results.

But the wave of falsehoods in the wake of that election — including the "big lie" that Donald Trump² won — has continued to spread, espoused³ by hundreds of Republican candidates on ballots⁴ this fall.

That's left experts who study social media wondering what lessons tech companies have learned from 2020 — and whether they are doing enough this year.

The host of election-related announcements in recent weeks add up to a "business as usual" approach, said Katie Harbath, a former elections policy director at Facebook who's now a fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

The return of familiar playbooks

The platforms are largely taking a two-pronged approach: tamping⁵ down misleading or outright⁶ false claims, and boosting authoritative⁷ information from local election officials and reputable news sources.

In the first case, all four major platforms are leaning on labels to flag falsehoods and, in many cases, direct users to fact checks or accurate information. In some cases, users won't be able to share labeled posts and the platforms themselves won't recommend them. YouTube, Facebook and TikTok also say they will remove some specific false claims about voting and threats of violence.

Platforms are often hesitant to spell out exactly how they enforce their policies to avoid giving bad actors a roadmap. The range of approaches to labeling and removal also illustrates⁸ the fraught⁹ balance the companies try to strike between letting users express themselves and protecting their platforms from being weaponized — all while facing scrutiny¹⁰ from politicians on both sides of the aisle¹¹.

Policies diverge¹² most when it comes to political ads. Twitter and TikTok have banned ads for candidates and about political issues. Google and Facebook both allow them, requiring disclosure of who pays for them. Facebook is once again freezing all new political ads in the week before Election Day but will allow existing ads to continue running.

But defining when an ad or issue qualifies as political isn't straightforward¹³, leaving gaps that experts worry could be exploited.

"It's actually a quite confusing landscape because there is no regulation, there are no standards these companies have to follow," Harbath said. "Everyone is just making the choices that they feel are best for them and their company."

On the flip¹⁴ side, all four platforms are highlighting features that aim to put more reliable information in users' feeds, such as providing information about candidates, voter registration¹⁵ and when and where to cast ballots. That information will also be available in Spanish across platforms.

Branching out beyond English is an important step towards addressing a "glaring omission¹⁶" in previous elections, said Zeve Sanderson, executive director of New York University's Center for Social Media and Politics.

In the final days of the 2020 election, Latino voters were targeted with social media posts discouraging them from voting, according to voting rights activists¹⁷ and disinformation experts.

Evidence is mixed on how well platform policies work

Even as social media companies double down on their 2020 tactics, researchers say it's not always clear how effective their interventions¹⁸ are.

In the case of labels, there is mixed evidence about whether they help dispel¹⁹ false impressions, or if, in some cases, they may inadvertently encourage people to double down on those beliefs.

Last year, researchers at NYU analyzed²⁰ what happened after Twitter labeled some of Trump's tweets before and after the 2020 election as containing misinformation. They found the labeled messages spread even further on Twitter, and also took off on other platforms including Facebook, Instagram and Reddit.

The platforms have given small peeks²¹ into what they know about how well their tools work. Twitter has said after it redesigned its misleading information labels last year, more people clicked through to read accurate information.

Facebook, meanwhile, says it will be more choosy about what it labels, after users said labels were "over-used" in 2020. "In the event that we do need to deploy²² them this time round our intention is to do so in a targeted and strategic way," Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Facebook parent Meta, wrote in a blog post.

But for NYU's Sanderson, that raised more questions the company has not answered.

"What was the feedback? From which users? What do the words 'targeted' and 'strategic' mean?" he said. "It would be really helpful for them to contextualize it within actual details of what their internal research has found."

Moving beyond misinformation "Whac-A-Mole"

What's more, it's hard to know how well the companies enforce their policies — which Harbath, the former Facebook official, described as a "huge gap."

"The companies are like, 'These are our policies, these are all the things that we're going to do.' But they don't talk enough about, 'OK, but humans are fallible. The technology is not 100% perfect,' " she said.

In the hours after polls closed in 2020, Trump supporters began rallying online under the slogan "Stop the Steal," Facebook removed the first Stop the Steal group on its platform quickly, under its rules against casting doubt on the legitimacy²³ of the election and calling for violence. But more groups kept popping up — and Facebook was unable to keep up.

Researchers warn that the 2020 approach to election falsehoods doesn't address the reality of 2022. Tech companies approach elections as discrete²⁴ events, typically putting policies in place and then turning them off when the voting is over — even though false claims don't end when the ballots are counted.

"The companies should be doing a lot more to have an always-on policy, because clearly these topics around the integrity of elections are certainly staying in the lexicon²⁵ and the conversation well beyond Election Day," Harbath said.

The big challenge is for companies to move beyond being reactive and find ways to prevent their platforms from being used to spread these kinds of falsehoods so widely in the first place.

"When it comes to election misinformation and disinformation, platforms are kind of just playing Whac-A-Mole — trying to get on top of something before something else arises," said Spandi Singh, a policy analyst²⁶ at the Open Technology Institute at the think tank New America.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 espoused   

v.（决定）支持，拥护（目标、主张等）( espouse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They espoused the notion of equal opportunity for all in education. 他们赞同在教育方面人人机会均等的观念。
• The ideas she espoused were incomprehensible to me. 她所支持的意见令我难以理解。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 tamping   

n.填塞物，捣紧v.捣固( tamp的现在分词 )；填充；（用炮泥）封炮眼口；夯实

参考例句：

• The foundation becomes solid after tamping. 打夯以后，地基就瓷实了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Practical construction shows that equal energy, equal deformation tamping a. 等能量、等变形夯扩挤密矸石桩是一种地基加固新技术。 来自互联网

6 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

7 authoritative   

adj.有权威的，可相信的；命令式的；官方的

参考例句：

• David speaks in an authoritative tone.大卫以命令的口吻说话。
• Her smile was warm but authoritative.她的笑容很和蔼，同时又透着威严。

8 illustrates   

给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• This historical novel illustrates the breaking up of feudal society in microcosm. 这部历史小说是走向崩溃的封建社会的缩影。
• Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. 阿尔弗莱德 - 阿德勒是一位著名的医生，他有过可以说明这点的经历。 来自中级百科部分

9 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

10 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

11 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

12 diverge   

v.分叉，分歧，离题，使...岔开，使转向

参考例句：

• This is where our opinions diverge from each other.这就是我们意见产生分歧之处。
• Don't diverge in your speech.发言不要离题。

13 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

14 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

15 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

16 omission   

n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长

参考例句：

• The omission of the girls was unfair.把女孩排除在外是不公平的。
• The omission of this chapter from the third edition was a gross oversight.第三版漏印这一章是个大疏忽。

17 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

19 dispel   

vt.驱走，驱散，消除

参考例句：

• I tried in vain to dispel her misgivings.我试图消除她的疑虑，但没有成功。
• We hope the programme will dispel certain misconceptions about the disease.我们希望这个节目能消除对这种疾病的一些误解。

20 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 peeks   

n.偷看，窥视( peek的名词复数 )v.很快地看( peek的第三人称单数 )；偷看；窥视；微露出

参考例句：

• A freckle-face blenny peeks from its reef burrow in the Solomon Islands. 奇特的海生物图片画廊。一只斑点面容粘鱼窥视从它的暗礁穴在所罗门群岛。 来自互联网
• She peeks at her neighbor from the curtain. 她从窗帘后面窥视她的邻居。 来自互联网

22 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

23 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

24 discrete   

adj.个别的，分离的，不连续的

参考例句：

• The picture consists of a lot of discrete spots of colour.这幅画由许多不相连的色点组成。
• Most staple fibers are discrete,individual entities.大多数短纤维是不联系的单独实体。

25 lexicon   

n.字典，专门词汇

参考例句：

• Chocolate equals sin in most people's lexicon.巧克力在大多数人的字典里等同于罪恶。
• Silent earthquakes are only just beginning to enter the public lexicon.无声地震才刚开始要成为众所周知的语汇。

26 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。