Democrats launch campaign to curb disinformation, focusing on voters of color and immigrants

With the presidential election looming, Democrats have announced new efforts aimed at combating voter disinformation, particularly among immigrants and communities of color.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee shared first with NBC News that it is launching a series of websites on Thursday, translated across English, Hindi, Korean, simplified Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese. The information hubs, referred to as the “In It Together” campaign, will provide details on Democratic platforms.

The websites are aimed at countering disinformation that has been prevalent across closed messaging apps, like WeChat and WhatsApp, that are popular among communities of color, said Sarah Lin, the committee’s national Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) engagement deputy director.

“Knowing how prevalent these closed platform groups are and how much our communities rely on them … we want to empower organizers, our volunteers with culturally competent, in-language content so that they can counter disinformation,” she said.

Through talking points and relevant articles, the websites will break down Democratic stances on issues starting with the cost of living, the economy, health care and community safety. More topics are set to be added throughout the election cycle.

With social media companies scaling back efforts to curb misinformation on their platforms, and former President Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories about the 2020 election among several other factors, experts say disinformation could prove an unprecedented threat in the November election.