Beth Schwanke, Executive Director of the Pitt Disinformation Lab, said during a Pennsylvania panel discussion that voters should rely on “trusted sources” for information, according to a report from The Federalist.
When asked how one may fight against “misinformation” and “disinformation,” Schwanke said, “When you see misinformation, it’s best not to engage with it online because you are helping to amplify it.”
“One thing everyone can do to make sure they are seeing accurate information is to use trusted sources. So in elections that means using the Department of State, that means using your county elections office, it means using media organizations that follow — that adhere — to professional journalism standards like … your local NPR affiliate,” Schwanke said.
“And it doesn’t mean you know, ‘doing your own research’ and just asking questions and sharing, you know, posts from — I don’t know, in my case, it’s Uncle Joe, right? It means being thoughtful about where your sources are coming from.”
Pennsylvania’s governor, Josh Shapiro (D) recently announced a partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to combat “misinformation” leading up to the 2024 presidential election.
Shapiro said in a February 29 press release, “Pennsylvania is the birthplace of American democracy, and we are working to continue defending Pennsylvanians’ fundamental freedoms and ensure we have a free, fair, safe, secure election this November. As Attorney General, I brought law enforcement leaders at every level together to ensure our elections remained free from fraud, interference, and intimidation here in Pennsylvania – and I made a commitment to continuing that work as Governor.”
“We take our responsibility as stewards of our democracy seriously and the Election Threats Task Force will ensure all levels of government are working together to combat misinformation, safeguard the rights of every citizen, and ensure this election is safe, secure, free, and fair.”
The Pennsylvania Election Threats Task Force is “comprised of federal, state, and local security, law enforcement, and election administration partners who are working together to share information and coordinate plans to mitigate threats to the election process, protect voters from intimidation, and provide voters with accurate, trusted election information,” according to the press release.
According to Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, the task force targets those who have spread “lies and baseless conspiracy theories, and attempting to delegitimize our safe, secure, and accurate elections.”
