Your friendly neighborhood PSA: Be on the lookout for election disinformation
Commentary by Chitown Kev
Today is March 5, 2024, Super Tuesday, the day where elections will be held in 15 states in contests ranging from presidential primaries to statewide and municipal elections to ballot initiatives and probably, quite literally, to dogcatcher.
Today is the culmination of a lot of GOTV efforts and also to misinformation and disinformation campaigns. So here is a friendly neighborhood reminder that Black people are the specific targets of disinformation campaigns.
Marianna Spring/BBC Panorama and Americast
The fake images of black Trump supporters, generated by artificial intelligence (AI), are one of the emerging disinformation trends ahead of the US presidential election in November.
Unlike in 2016, when there was evidence of foreign influence campaigns, the AI-generated images found by the BBC appear to have been made and shared by US voters themselves.
One of them was Mark Kaye and his team at a conservative radio show in Florida.
They created an image of Mr Trump smiling with his arms around a group of black women at a party and shared it on Facebook, where Mr Kaye has more than one million followers.
Unlike Ms. Spring, I have no doubt that there are yet-to-be revealed foreign influence campaigns attempting to dissuade Black voters that are in operation in places like St. Petersburg, Russia or Macedonia as well as home-grown efforts spearheaded by MAGA and even within Black communities
Cliff Albright, the co-founder of campaign group Black Voters Matter, said there appeared to be a resurgence of disinformation tactics targeting the black community, as in the 2020 election.
"There have been documented attempts to target disinformation to black communities again, especially younger black voters," he said.
I show him the AI-generated pictures in his office in Atlanta, Georgia - a key election battleground state where convincing even a small slice of the overall black vote to switch from Mr Biden to Mr Trump could prove decisive.
A recent New York Times and Sienna (sic) College poll found that in six key swing states 71% of black voters would back Mr Biden in 2024, a steep drop from the 92% nationally that helped him win the White House at the last election.
Mr Albright said the fake images were consistent with a "very strategic narrative" pushed by conservatives - from the Trump campaign down to influencers online - designed to win over black voters. They are particularly targeting young black men, who are thought to be more open to voting for Mr Trump than black women.
(Younger Black generations are also more likely to be susceptible to health disinformation campaigns, for example.)
Whatever the domestic or foreign origins of these disinformation campaigns, their goals are the same: to suppress the electoral power of Black voters. The advent of an age of artificial intelligence has made disseminating misinformation and disinformation just that much easier.
Brandon Tensley/Capital B News
Campaigns to mislead Black Americans and ultimately suppress their votes aren’t new. But as the 2024 elections draw closer, advocates across the U.S. — especially across the South — are preparing for what they believe will be even more intense and sophisticated efforts to deceive, including artificial intelligence-generated voice clones that mimic public figures and dish out false information.
“The way I see it,” explained Sarah J. Jackson, a presidential associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, “[the environment today] is the new literacy test. Those old literacy tests were designed to be impossible for most people to pass. In some ways, what we’re seeing now is a media literacy test: How do you know which information you’re getting from Facebook or X or even robocalls is legitimate?”
To push back against these schemes in the absence of robust federal intervention, advocates are starting to increase their presence in vulnerable communities and make sure that voters understand the perils of disinformation.
In the face of a relentless MAGA movement to suppress the Black vote, a mainstream media needing to create a semblance of a horserace, and the scarcity of media literacy programs, the presence of advocates combating disinformation within communities is needed...but these advocates cannot be expected to do all of the work in combating disinformation nor should they. We all have to play a part in those efforts.
The preservation of our democracy demands that effort.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Regina Lawless hit a professional high at 40, becoming the first director of diversity and inclusion for Instagram. But after her husband died suddenly in 2021, she pondered whether she had neglected her personal life and what it means for Black woman to succeed in the corporate world.
While she felt supported in the role, “there wasn’t the willingness for the leaders to take it all the way,” Lawless said. “Really, it’s the leaders and every employee that creates the culture of inclusion.”
This inspired her venture, Bossy and Blissful, a collective for Black female executives to commiserate and coach each other on how to deal with misogynoir, a specific type of misogyny experienced by Black women, or being the only person of color in the C-suite.
“I’m now determined to help other women, particularly women of color and Black women, to see that we don’t have to sacrifice ourselves for success. We can find spaces or create our own spaces where we can be successful and thrive,” said Lawless, who is based in Oakland, California.
Many women in Lawless’ group have no workplace peers, making them the “Onlys” — the only Black person or woman of color — which can lead to feelings of loneliness or isolation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The National Urban League is out with its latest assessment on the State of Black America. The report measures racial inequality in U.S. society and the economy: employment, health care, housing, criminal justice and much more.
This year’s report comes out an even 60 years since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Marc Morial is president of the National Urban League. He spoke with “Marketplace Morning Report” host David Brancaccio, and the following is an edited transcript of their conversation.
David Brancaccio: Your report shows that racial economic inequality has, in some ways, widened in some areas. The report cites data that in the year 2000, a Black man earned 75 cents for every dollar earned by a white man. And then by 2024, this goes down to 71 cents — 75 cents to 71 cents. That seems like the wrong direction.
Marc Morial: It is the wrong direction. And it underscores that while progress has been made in opening doors, economic equality, economic parity in this country is elusive. If you look at many of our urban communities, Chicago being one, the decline of manufacturing, the decline of blue collar jobs and the continued persistence of both explicit and implicit bias in hiring and promotions. You can never discount that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On a recent Saturday night, it was crowded in Thurst Lounge. Music boomed from two dance floors with separate DJs in the new nightclub on 2204 14th St. NW in Washington, D.C.
In December, Thurst opened its doors with co-owners Shaun Mykals and Brandon Burke at the helm. The duo built their reputation on “Thursday Bliss,” an open-mic night originally hosted at the legendary jazz establishment Bohemian Caverns. They quickly outgrew the space.
Of their newest venture, Burke said the name pays homage to the unique Black experience in D.C. and the “traditional spelling [of thirst] when it comes to quenching the thirst for communities for the Black gay experience; but also we wanted to pay homage to our roots as the creators of Thursday Bliss. So we use ‘u’ to do that — and then not to mention, we’re off of the U street corridor in D.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler on Friday said that democracy is at risk, urging for voting protections to be enforced ahead of the presidential election in November.
The California Democrat made the call in Montgomery, Alabama, at a hearing about protecting voting rights for Americans, particularly those in marginalized communities.
“The very sense of our democracy is at stake” if protections are not honored, Butler told theGrio.
“We must continue to do everything that we can to strengthen the franchise for voters and voters of color all across the country.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Mississippi police department in one of the nation’s poorest counties unconstitutionally jailed people for unpaid fines without first assessing whether they could afford to pay them, the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday.
The announcement comes amid a Justice Department probe into alleged civil rights violations by police in Lexington, Mississippi. The ongoing investigation, which began in November, is focused on accusations of systemic police abuses in the majority-Black city of about 1,600 people some 65 miles (100 kilometers) north of the capital of Jackson.
In a letter addressed to Katherine Barrett Riley, the attorney for the city of Lexington, federal prosecutors said the Lexington Police Department imprisons people for outstanding fines without determining whether the person has the means to pay them — a practice that violates the Fourteenth Amendment. Riley did not immediately respond to a phone message Thursday.
“It’s time to bring an end to a two-tiered system of justice in our country in which a person’s income determines whether they walk free or whether they go to jail,” said Kristen Clarke, the department’s assistant attorney general for civil rights. “There is great urgency underlying the issues we have uncovered in Mississippi, and we stand ready to work with officials to end these harmful practices.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Homes and the local market were burned during the raid on Solhan in the early hours of Saturday morning. No group has said it was behind the violence, but Islamist attacks are increasingly common in the country, especially in border regions.
The UN chief said he was "outraged" by the incident.
António Guterres "strongly condemns the heinous attack and underscores the urgent need for the international community to redouble support to member states in the fight against violent extremism and its unacceptable human toll," his spokesperson said.
On Sunday, a total of 160 bodies were recovered from what local officials in Solhan described as three mass graves, AFP news agency reported.
"It's the local people themselves who have started exhuming the bodies and burying them after transporting them," an unnamed local source said, according to AFP. The number of people killed in Solhan has increased from earlier reports of about 132 deaths, and there are concerns that the death toll may rise further.
Following the news of Saturday's attack, the Burkinabe President Roch Kabore declared three days of national mourning, writing in a tweet that "we must stand united against the forces of evil". He described the attack as "barbaric" and said that security forces were trying to track down the perpetrators.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Haiti has declared a three-day state of emergency and a night-time curfew after armed gangs stormed the country’s two biggest jails, allowing more than 3,000 dangerous criminals, including murderers and kidnappers, to escape back on to the streets of the poor and violence-racked Caribbean nation.
The finance minister, Patrick Boisvert – who is in charge while the embattled prime minister, Ariel Henry, is abroad trying to salvage support for a UN-backed security force to stabilise Haiti – said police would use “all legal means at their disposal” to recapture the prisoners and enforce the curfew.
Jimmy Chérizier, a former elite police officer known as Barbecue who now runs a gang federation, has claimed responsibility for the surge in attacks. He said the goal was to capture Haiti’s police chief and government ministers and prevent Henry’s return.
The emergency decree was issued after a deadly weekend that marked a new low in Haiti’s spiral of violence, and which has led the US to advise its citizens to leave “as soon as possible” and Canada to temporarily close its embassy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WELCOME TO THE TUESDAY PORCH
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THE BLACK KOS COMMUNITY, GRAB A SEAT, SOME CYBER EATS, RELAX, AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF.