Good evening. Vice President Kamala Harris has recently announced her presidential campaign, and already, there is a flood of misinformation circulating about her online. Tiffany Hsu, a technology reporter, is here to discuss this issue with us tonight.
In just three days of campaigning, Vice President Harris has been subjected to a barrage of disinformation and abuse that far surpasses what President Biden has experienced. Following Biden’s endorsement of her presidential bid on Sunday, numerous social media posts have regurgitated sexist and racist rumors that have plagued Harris for years. According to data from PeakMetrics, over 11 percent of mentions of Harris on social media platforms have involved attacks on her race or gender. Some posts, including one from a Missouri candidate for secretary of state, have even included hostile sexual references.
In response to these attacks, prominent Democrats like Hillary Clinton and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have come to Harris’s defense. Some Republican leaders have also urged their party members to focus on Harris’s political record rather than her identity.
Disinformation researchers point out that the normalization of misogynistic language directed at Harris is a result of the online environment’s lack of oversight and its reliance on sensational content to drive engagement. Nina Jankowicz, the CEO of the American Sunlight Project, a nonprofit organization focused on studying disinformation, notes that the toxic discourse surrounding Harris often recycles old falsehoods about her.
Jankowicz warns that unless politicians from both sides of the aisle actively speak out against this kind of rhetoric, the situation is likely to worsen. She emphasizes that many of the same false narratives that circulated in 2020 are resurfacing, contributing to the increasingly violent tone of political discourse.
It’s important to be vigilant about separating fact from fiction when it comes to political figures like Vice President Harris. Misinformation not only harms the individual being targeted but also erodes the integrity of our democratic process. As voters, we must be critical consumers of information and take the time to verify the accuracy of what we see and hear online.
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