Philadelphians fear spread of election misinformation, survey shows
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
More than half of Philadelphians polled in a recent survey say they're "extremely" worried about fake news and misinformation this election season, per SmartNews.
Why it matters: Researchers have found that false information spreads six times faster than the truth, and AI makes it easier to amplify election lies.
The big picture: Many Americans, including educated elites, find themselves in a gullibility crisis — fueled by bad actors, media illiteracy and plummeting trust in traditional news.
- Commonwealth Secretary Al Schmidt told Axios that containing the spread of misinformation is one of his office's chief concerns ahead of Nov. 5. The state has a fact-checking page to tamp down on false election claims.
- Pennsylvania is also among several states considering laws to crack down on AI in elections. Lawmakers have introduced bills to restrict the use of AI to impersonate candidates in campaign videos, images and other advertising.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia election officials are spending $1.4 million this election cycle on combating misinformation.
By the numbers: 80% of Philadelphia residents surveyed worry about attempts to dupe voters in the heat of this historic election, per SmartNews.
- 53% say they're "extremely" concerned. Both figures fall below national averages of 85% and 58%, respectively.
What they did: SmartNews, a free news aggregation app, gathered responses online through SurveyMonkey between Sept. 25 and Oct. 2, polling:
- 1,000 adults nationally (±3% margin of error).
- 400 respondents in each of 10 metro areas (±5% margin of error).
Zoom in: Philadelphians reported consuming an average of more than two hours of news a day — on par with the national rate — including 81 minutes from traditional news sources and 42 minutes from social media sources.
- 57% of Philadelphians trust traditional media, while only 24% trust social media, survey figures show.
The intrigue: The findings come as partisan websites are eroding trust in Pennsylvania's local news media, per a study sponsored by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism.
- The institute assessed more than 160 outlets in Pennsylvania and found 30% of the state's most popular news websites were "untrustworthy."
- The group called the results "shockingly high," noting some sites were being funded by far-right-wing and far-left-wing groups "masquerading as typical local news sites."
- Out-of-state "news" sites disproportionately published misinformation about Pennsylvania, per the study.