Two common themes I see on DU are (1) people who are incredulous or in disbelief that the race is tied given how much Trump lies and (2) blame towards traditional media for failing to inform people of Trump's lies notwithstanding the fact that it easy to find stories on ABC, CNN, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, NY Times and the Washington Post identifying Trump's many lies.
This themes are misguided and are based on an outdated understanding of where people get their news and information, which is through social media where stories and videos are not recommended based on accuracy of reliability, but based on algorithms that value the propensity to click a story, which means that sensationalistic, emotional content is always likely to have an advantage.
This is not the first time this has happened. In the Philippines, the people elected the son of a brutal dictator, which was driven in part by a coordinated disinformation campaigns on social media platforms, especially through videos, that takes advantage of the fact that social media has no mechanism to vet for accuracy, so you can run campaigns based on misinformation and sensationalism.
This is why many health professionals, including the current Surgeon General, has recommended add warning labels to social media to advise users of the risks of disinformation and perhaps disclosure regarding how social media platforms recommend stories to users, particularly if the recommendations are not based on accuracy of reliability.
https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2024/06/12/how-americans-get-news-on-tiktok-x-facebook-and-instagram/#:~:text=A%202023%20Pew%20Research%20Center,%25)%20or%20X%20(12%25).
https://time.com/6173757/bongbong-marcos-tiktok-philippines-election/
One of the most popular posts on Joey Toledo’s TikTok account is a 13-second clip of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s conversation with Juan Ponce Enrile. In the video, the 94-year-old Enrile—who served as justice secretary and defense minister under Marcos’ father, the Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.—claims that the Philippines was so safe under martial law imposed by the elder Marcos that a Filipino could leave his home unlocked, and “nobody would touch it.”
The video received 92,000 views, and while Toledo has some doubts about Enrile’s claims (“I’m not just sure if [Enrile’s] story is 100% percent accurate because he’s already old”), the 27-year-old says he believes Enrile “knows what happened during that time.”
The appeal of the video on TikTok, and many others like it, goes a long way to explaining why Bongbong Marcos looks likely to win the May 9 presidential election—potentially returning one of the Philippines’ most prominent dynasties to power more than 35 years after it was ousted following decades of dictatorship.
Almost all of the 32 pro-Marcos TikTok creators TIME contacted would not speak on the record. But one, Toledo from Nueva Ecija province, some 69 miles north of the capital Manila, agreed. Typical of many of his peers, he does not believe the well documented history of the Marcos family’s human rights abuses and corruption.
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