Digital "civil war" threatens to erupt post-election, expert warns, but some are working to keep calm
RICHFIELD, Minn. — Misinformation and disinformation are widespread on social media, especially in this election year, experts warn. But one local organization is trying to keep supporters on both sides calm in the face of inaccurate information.
"This is a full front information war," said Dr. Aaron McKain, Executive Director of the Institute for Digital Humanity.
IDH is a nonprofit, bipartisan and multi-faith digital ethics think tank based in Minneapolis. McKain leads the student-founded group fighting the information war playing out on social media.
"Even as a doctoral student, I'm trying to analyze who is telling the truth here," said Ayin Morales, Director of Community Education for the Institute for Digital Humanity. "I'm kind of a big Theo Von fan. I've been listening to JD Vance, and I'm like this sounds interesting, but then I hear The Breakfast Club and I'm like hmmm, this sounds interesting."
McKain says no matter who wins the election, we can count on a chaotic period, and possibly much worse.
"The escalation of violence, and but more importantly, we're going to lose track of that thin thread of reality that we're all sort of still clinging to," McKain said.
He believes social media algorithms and artificial intelligence are splitting our society in half, politically.
"We're all living in separate realities, we're all being algorithmically gaslit. This is a weaponized digital tactic. This not, 'Oh my God, half the country lost their minds.' It's not that. This is by design," said McKain.
Bad actors — foreign and domestic — are attempting to undermine the validity of our election through fake news. Understanding the difference between misinformation and disinformation is key.
"By definition, disinformation is an intentional or willful act of deception to achieve some probably sinister end. Misinformation is your uncle is an idiot and posted something that doesn't exist. Just keeping those two things straight can be invaluable," said McKain.
While platforms and regulators struggle to get it right, McKain says it's ultimately up to us to protect ourselves and our communities.
"It doesn't matter if you're an evangelical Christian or a Jewish person or a Muslim person, or you're super 'woke' or super MAGA or whatever. We're all people. We don't actually hate each other. And if we can get them in a room and engage them in a civil conversation, the way we've been doing for 2,000 years, we can actually quickly make a difference," he said.
The stakes are high.
"Our response to the election of 2024 is going to dictate the terms of our ability economically, militarily, as a culture as a society to move forward and win the 21st century," said McKain.
The Institute for Digital Humanity believes there is a bipartisan way to bring social media companies, lawmakers, and constitutional experts together to clean up disinformation.
Last week, the group launched a new podcast with practical tools to help bridge our growing digital divide.