— Misinfo Monday is a weekly series by Mozilla where we give you the tools, tips and tricks needed to cut the crap and find the truth. For more Misinfo Monday posts, check back weekly on our blog or on our Instagram. —
Did you hear that thing about mail-in ballots this morning? Have you heard the news about voter fraud? The U.S. 2020 Elections are happening as we speak. Both misinformation and truthful information about voting can spread like wildfire, and it can be hard to tell the difference. [Here are some tips.]
Voting and election misinformation can do real damage by disenfranchising people and suppressing votes. It shouldn’t be up to you to identify misinformation, but sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube haven’t figured out how to get a handle on it. If you see something false, you can help by reporting it. Here’s how to do it on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. For more platforms, including TikTok and LinkedIn, visit this link.
Report Election Misinformation on Facebook
- Click the ••• in the top-right corner of the post you'd like to mark as false.
- Click Find support or report post.
- Click False News, then click Next.
- Click Done.
Report Election Misinformation on Twitter
(Note, this option is only available for people located in relevant countries and locations in advance of major events.)
- Select Report Tweet from the ∨ icon to the right of the tweet.
- Select It's misleading about a political election or other civic event.
- Select the option that best tells Twitter how the Tweet is misleading about voting or participation in civic processes.
- Submit your report.
Report Election Misinformation on YouTube’s mobile apps
- On Apple or Android, go to the video you'd like to report.
- Tap More ••• at the top-right of the video. You may need to pause it to get this to appear
- Tap Report.
- Select the reason for reporting that best fits the violation in the video. Election misinformation will often fall under “spam or misleading” or “hateful or abusive”
Report Election Misinformation on YouTube Desktop
- Sign in to YouTube.
- Bottom-right of the video you want to report, click •••
- In the drop-down menu, choose Report.
- Select the reason that best fits the violation in the video. Election misinformation will often fall under “spam or misleading” or “hateful or abusive”
- Click “next,” then provide any additional details that may help the review team make their decision, including timestamps or descriptions of the violation.