Social media companies have weak policies on misinformation and have failed to enforce them consistently ahead of the 2022 midterms, according to a new report released Monday.
The report, from New York University’s Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, faults Meta, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok for not taking a proactive approach to address misinformation, including a growing trend of election denialism and false claims of fraud.
They say the lack of a proactive approach threatens the approaching election.
Although social media companies have pledged to tackle election misinformation, the report said the companies’ “flawed policies and inconsistent enforcement result in the continued amplification of election denialism, especially in key battleground states.”
The report highlights Facebook’s continued exemption of politicians from its fact-checking program as a concern for amplifying the spread of election denialism.
It also slam’s Twitter for having an “on-again/off-again enforcement” of its Civi Integrity Policy in a way that has allowed election denialism to “gain momentum since early 2021.”
The report also focuses on video content, stating that YouTube has allowed its platform to be “exploited by proponents of disinformation” and that TikTok is “increasingly plagued by political misinformation.”
Paul Barrett, an author of the report, said the risk is heightened by the number of Republican candidates who have embraced election denialism.
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