Election Misinformation in English Is Bad. In Other Languages, It's Out of Control - CNET

As startling as DeSantis' scheme was, it doesn't match the magnitude of misinformation broadcast in different languages across social media. Chinese Americans and Vietnamese Americans - whose languages, along with Spanish, represent three of the most widely spoken non-English languages in the US - see huge amounts of foreign-language misinformation. Misinformation in English is a pressing issue causing concerns about the upcoming midterm elections and the potential damage to the institutions of democracy and responsible for numerous deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. First-generation Chinese Americans and immigrants from China more frequently use WeChat, a Tencent-owned social media platform for messaging and payments, according to misinformation researchers. Another group at the heart of misinformation in multiple languages is a media empire backed by a religious movement. YouTube spokesperson Elana Hernandez says the company's misinformation policies are global and that YouTube applies them consistently across languages and regions. While the social media companies say they're curbing misinformation on their respective platforms, there are efforts in Latino, Vietnamese American and Chinese American communities to fight for the truth directly.