Back to Blog
Ipanic florida6/1/2023 ![]() Twitter has also enacted several changes to make it harder to spread election misinformation on its platform. MORE: Biden visits Florida looking to gain ground with Latino voters Outlandish and false conspiracy theories like the suggestion Joe Biden is like the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro, that the coronavirus is a hoax and that the Black Lives Matter movement involves witchcraft, have made their way into Facebook feeds and WhatsApp messaging chains. In the letter sent in September, the representatives noted that the disinformation targeting Latinos often contains "far-right conspiracy theories relating to 'QAnon' or other fringe ideologies designed to manipulate Latino voters." "The threat of disinformation, however, both on social media and its permeation to traditional media outlets, remains a worrying factor." "Latinos in South Florida have already started to vote by mail, early voting is set to begin, and 26 days remain until Latinos across the country cast their ballots on Election Day," the letter stated. The letter was a follow-up from their original request in late September. Joaquin Castro, D-Tex., urged the agency to conduct an investigation into the origins of what he called "disinformation campaigns" targeting Latino voters in South Florida. "For the first time in American history Latinos will be the largest minority of voting in the 2020 elections and their vote will be crucial." "The road to the White House is through the Latino vote," said Domingo Garcia, the national president for LULAC, the nation's oldest and largest Latino civil rights organization. ![]() In Florida, voters are required to show an identification document that has a photo on it, such as a driver's license, military ID, or tribal ID. That number includes more than 350,000 additional Latinos who are registered to vote in the state this election compared with 2016, totaling 2.4 million Latino voters. In the critical swing state, Latinos account for 17% of the state's registered voters, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Florida state government data. and they have filtered into Latino households." "There's a significant amount of activity of broad conspiracy theories that have all the worst of American politics. "Our community is digesting misinformation at an alarming rate," said Eduardo Gamarra, a professor of politics and international relations at FloridaInternational University in Miami. "The language barrier coupled with the mistrust in government, makes Latinos vulnerable to all types of misinformation," added Sanchez. MORE: Biden senior adviser says campaign has 'work to do' with Latino voters Sanchez told ABC News that in communities where Spanish is the dominant language, Latino voters are particularly vulnerable to many challenges related to misinformation and disinformation. "We have seen Biden being compared with Fidel Castro or Maduro and that is why right now, as an organization we're focusing on promoting the best reliable information and making sure that nobody trusts the information that Trump and his allies are promoting," said Hector Sanchez, Executive Director of Mi Familia Vota, a non-profit organization working to increase civic engagement in Hispanic communities. ![]() The experts voiced concern that the barrage of misleading messages about presidential candidate Joe Biden and the coronavirus, often containing right-wing conspiracy theories, could swing the state vote.Īdvocates pointed to Republicans and President Donald Trump as some of the sources of disinformation flooding Latinos' social media feeds, but the full picture regarding the origins of the information was not immediately clear. ![]() Misinformation and conspiracy theories swirling around the 2020 presidential race are reaching an "alarming" number of Latino voters in Florida through Spanish language social media sites, advocacy groups and elected officials said.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |