Social Media Sites Under Pressure To Prep For Census Trolls And Interference
The first U.S. census to allow all households to participate online is facing another unprecedented challenge â the looming threat of disinformation through social media.
As 2020 draws closer, federal officials fear foreign governments and Internet trolls could use Facebook, Twitter and other platforms to spread rumors and propaganda to derail the constitutionally mandated count with at least 10 years' worth of implications on elections around the country.
Results from the head count of every person living in the U.S. are used not only to determine the distribution of congressional seats and Electoral College votes among the states but also to redraw state and local voting districts beginning in 2021.
"This is a new age. The last decennial census didn't really face this type of challenge," Census Bureau where Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., pressed for answers on how the bureau is preparing to combat disinformation campaigns and any other online attempts to disrupt the count.
