Research showed that political disinformation on social media had negligible effects, but I always wondered if such tiny effects, when targeting battleground states, could influence close elections. A new paper analyzing voter-suppression ads shows this was the case in 2016: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Exposure to voter suppression ads on Facebook—which targeted non-White residents of battleground states—was associated with a 1.9% decrease in voter turnout in the 2016 election, representing approximately 4.7 million fewer votes nationwide. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/HJGf50Y7FPG

WPR News: "Kim argues the rising presence of artificial intelligence and disinformation on social media makes the study even more relevant as the 2026 midterm elections approach." www.wpr.org/news/raciall...

New PNAS study provides direct empirical evidence that targeted digital voter suppression efforts likely decrease voter turnout, especially among nonwhite voters in battlegrounds: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... exposing blindspots in #VotingRightsAct #CampaignFinaceLaw #ElectionIntegrity