Originally published in Al Dia
“Communist Kamala” and ‘open border for immigrant voters’ are some of the misinformation circulating right now to convince Latinos to vote.
The alleged vote of undocumented migrants and the suspicion of possible electoral fraud in the United States are the main misinformation targeting a Latino community that is increasingly prepared to avoid fraud.
"Joe Biden opened the borders to attract voters" and "Kamala Harris is a communist", are some of the false messages circulating in social networks before the race between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Harris and aimed at the 36.2 million Latino voters, four million more than in the last elections.
But, younger and more informed, the Latino voter can no longer be considered an easy target for misinformation, said Diana Castañeda, vice president of communications for the organization Voto Latino.
In the latest Digital Institute of the Americas (DDIA) survey, released in October, 66% of Latino respondents expressed "uncertainty" or rejected false claims presented to them, compared to 62% in April.
"It is not true that Latinos are more susceptible to misinformation" than the average population, agrees Roberta Braga, director of DDIA.
The analyst related this skepticism to the emergence of new verification organizations and resources invested to educate and encourage the electoral participation of the second largest ethnic group in the United States.
Castañeda, meanwhile, argued that the language barrier diminishes the strength of disinformation, because when translated from English to Spanish, misleading claims "lose meaning". However, the fact that disinformation is transposed into Spanish "is worrisome," he said.
While they are able to discern the misinformation coming their way, the community still faces a shortage of credible messengers, details Randy Abreu, policy advisor for the nonprofit National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC).
Predominant Narratives
The economy is the issue of most concern to this population this election cycle, according to the latest poll released by the non-profit civil rights organization Unidos US. Disinformers are capitalizing on this concern to spread false or misleading narratives.