For Immediate Release: June 25, 2024
Contact: Eddie Vale [email protected]
NEW POLL FINDINGS: DDIA Launches 2024 Survey of U.S. Latinos on Misinformation, Trust and AI
Washington, DC – Today, the Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas (DDIA) releases new poll findings of U.S. Latinos’ familiarity and belief in misinformation, trust in election stakeholders, and sentiments about AI leading up to the 2024 presidential election.
“Latinos are exposed to a lot of misinformation online, and most remain skeptical. That said, misinformation about elites plotting to hide the truth from us and claims related to election fraud are being seen and believed by more and more Latinos,” said Roberta Braga, Founder and Executive Director of DDIA.
“Leading up to November, making sure Latinos have better access to correct information in English and Spanish is important, but we can’t stop there ⸺ we need to be solving for polarization, for distrust, and investing more in listening to Latino communities. High levels of partisanship and interest in politics, a reliance on partisan media for information, and conspiratorial tendencies are the bigger drives of engagement with misinformation,” Braga added.
Key Findings Include:
Latinos & Misinformation (see all takeaways)- Latinos see a lot of misinformation, but don’t outright believe it. 62% reject or express uncertainty about the 15 false claims we tested.
Conspiratorial narratives, especially about “leftist political agendas in schools,” “corporations controlling politics,” and “elites plotting to censor the truth,” are taking hold.
40% of Latinos reported having seen claims about election fraud, including claims about “polls being manipulated” and “Democrats failing to secure the border to allow non-citizens to vote.” Among those who had seen these two claims, 42% and 41% of the sample believed them, respectively.
Psychological and media consumption factors are much better at predicting who is likely to engage with misinformation, but thinking about demographics: women, Facebook users, and Spanish-dominant Latinos form a “high-priority” group of uncertain people to which fact-checks and prebunking could be targeted. Targeting the uncertain with interventions, rather than the people who are farther down the rabbit hole, could be a way to prioritize solutions. Engaging Latinos on YouTube is also crucial.
Latinos & Trust (see all takeaways)- Trust in democracy-related stakeholders are strongly correlated with partisanship and adoption of misinformation.
Among Latino Democrats, the most trusted stakeholders are scientists, journalists, fact-checkers, Biden & other Democrats, while the least trusted are Fox News, social media, the Supreme Court, and Republicans.
Among Latino Republicans, most trusted stakeholders are scientists; the Supreme Court, religious leaders, and other Republicans, while the least trusted are CNN, MSNBC, “media organizations,” journalists, activists, and Biden.
Only scientists and neighbors are trusted across partisan lines.
Latinos & AI (see all takeaways)-
Few Latinos are using gen-AI tools. Only 15% of Latinos use ChatGPT on a regular basis. Other tools like MidJourney, Dall-E, and Stable Diffusion are used even less.
Latinos feel mostly ambivalent (equal amounts of positive and negative feelings) about AI generally.
66% of Latinos surveyed reported being worried that artificial intelligence will take jobs away from people, and 68% saw a pressing need for AI regulation.
As of April 2024, a majority of Latinos surveyed saw AI’s impact on elections as either marginal or non-existent.
The Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas (DDIA) partnered with YouGov to conduct a nationally representative poll of 3,000 U.S. Latino adults from March 11 to April 26, 2024, in English and Spanish. The poll’s findings can be viewed in their entirety HERE.
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