Nearly 50 migrants, many from Venezuela, found themselves unexpectedly in Martha's Vineyard last month, part of a political stunt by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis meant to protest US President Joe Biden's immigration policy. Some migrants said they'd been told they were being flown to Boston, where they could get expedited immigration papers, NPR reported. People in the group were also given a brochure in Spanish that falsely promised cash, housing and help with Social Security card applications.
DeSantis' act, which Texas authorities are investigating, provoked nationwide outrage partly, critics say, because it involved taking advantage of and deceiving people who don't primarily speak English.
As startling as DeSantis' scheme was, it doesn't match the magnitude of misinformation broadcast in different languages across social media. Latino migrants are bombarded by misinformation in Spanish on social media, according to a July report from the Tech Transparency Project. Chinese Americans and Vietnamese Americans -- whose languages, along with Spanish, represent three of the most widely spoken non-English languages in the US -- see huge amounts of foreign-language misinformation.
Misinformation in English is a pressing issue causing concerns about the upcoming midterm elections and the potential damage to the institutions of democracy and responsible for numerous deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media companies...
Kolkata: Kolkata Police has been grappling with a fresh challenge since the past week — controlling fake news. While it initially started with fake circulars, beginning with "restrictions" on cert...