Trump ’ s outburst was one of many incidents and trends that have led election defenders and propaganda experts to say that their biggest worries about 2024 elections concern the reach of mistaken or deceptive propaganda — misinformation and disinformation — and its persuasive power to shape political identities , beliefs , ideologies , and provoke actions .
“ It ’ s no secret that Republicans have a widespread strategy to undermine our democracy . But here ’ s what I ’ m worried about most for the 2024 election — election vigilantism ,” Marc Elias , a top Democratic Party lawyer , said during a late October episode of his “ Defending Democracy ” podcast . “ Election vigilantism , to put it simply , is when individuals or small groups act in a sort of loosely affiliated way to engage in voter harassment , voter intimidation , misinformation campaigns , or voter challenges .”
Elias has spent decades litigating the details of running elections . Since 2020 , many Republican-run states have passed laws making voting harder , disqualifying voters and ballots , imposing gerrymanders to fabricate majorities , and challenging federal voting law . Democratic-led states have gone the other direction , essentially creating two Americas when it comes to running elections . Notably , this veteran civil rights litigator is more worried about partisan passions running amok than the voting war ’ s latest courtroom fights . And he ’ s not alone .
“ It ’ s the minds of voters ,” replied Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson , a Democrat , when asked at the 2023 Aspen Cyber Summit in New York City about the biggest threat to the legitimacy of 2024 elections . Benson emphasized that it was not the reliability of the voting system or cybersecurity 66 x The Trial Lawyer breaches . “ It ’ s the confusion , and chaos , and the sense of division , and the sense of disengagement that bad actors are very much trying to instill in our citizenry .”
Information And Psychology
There are many factors driving the hand-wringing over the likelihood that political rumors , mistaken information , mischaracterizations , and intentional deceptions will play an outsized role in America ’ s 2024 elections . Academics like Starbird , whose work has buoyed guardrails , remain under attack . Some of the biggest social media platforms , led by X — formerly Twitter — have pulled back or gutted content policing efforts . These platforms , meanwhile , are integrating artificial intelligence-generated content , which some of these same researchers have shown can create newspaper-like articles that swaths of the public say are persuasive .
Additionally , the U . S . is involved in controversial wars in Ukraine and Israel invoking global rivalries , which may entice the hostile foreign governments that meddled in recent presidential elections to target key voting blocs in 2024 ’ s battleground states , analysts at the Aspen Cyber Summit said . And domestically , federal efforts to debunk election- and vaccine-related disinformation have shrunk , as Trump loyalists have accused these fact-based initiatives of unconstitutional censorship and sued . These GOP-led lawsuits have led to conflicting federal court rulings that have not been resolved , but fan an atmosphere of lingering distrust .
It is “ a real concern for 2024 : That the feds and others