The (EIP), a nonpartisan coalition of researchers that identified, tracked and responded to voting-related mis- and disinformation during the 2020 U.S. elections, released its final report, “,” on March 2. The final report is the culmination of months of collaboration among approximately 120 people working across four organizations: (SIO), the University of Washington iSchool-based (CIP), and the (DFRLab).
Over the course of its work, EIP focused on voting-related misinformation and the delegitimization of election results. Its primary goals were to: (1) identify mis- and disinformation before it went viral and during viral outbreaks; (2) share clear, accurate counter messaging; and (3) increase understanding of the dynamics shaping the information space during the 2020 election and its aftermath.
The EIP’s “Long Fuse” final report expands upon the coalition’s rapid-response research and policy analysis surrounding the November 2020 U.S. election and details how misleading narratives and false claims about voting coalesced into the metanarrative of a “stolen election,” which propelled the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The EIP’s final report also includes a set of policy recommendations and insights about how the coalition of researchers carried out their work and how this model may be expanded to combat future large-scale misinformation events.
Among key findings:
- Misleading and false claims and narratives coalesced into the metanarrative of a “stolen election,” which later propelled the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
- Narrative spread was cross-platform: repeat spreaders leveraged the specific features of each platform for maximum amplification.
- The primary repeat spreaders of false and misleading narratives were verified, blue-check accounts belonging to partisan media outlets, social media influencers and political figures, including President Trump and his family.
- Many platforms expanded their election-related policies during the 2020 election cycle. However, application of moderation policies was inconsistent or unclear.
The report includes chapters that examine how mis- and disinformation shaped social media narratives around mail-dumping incidents in Glendale and Sonoma County, California and Greenville, Wisconsin, as well as closer looks at #Sharpiegate and #StopTheSteal narratives, non-English mis- and disinformation, and election-related violence.