Philadelphia City Commissioners’ office to spend $1.4 million to combat election misinformation

Wary of potential misinformation infecting the November election, the Philadelphia City Commissioners’ office plans to hire an outside marketing firm for $1.4 million to battle voter deception.

The firm, not yet selected, would also work to increase voter participation, and bolster confidence in the validity of the electoral process, according to City Commissioner Seth Bluestein.

“Over the last four years, we’ve seen lots of falsehoods about the election system in Philadelphia as well as Pennsylvania as a whole,” said Bluestein, a Republican. “And it’s on us to communicate accurate information to voters so they have faith in our elections.”

Bluestein said his office will “do everything in our power” to help voters access the official information they’ll need to make critical ballot-box decisions. “For example, we’ll be directing them to our website, so they can get their questions answered by actual sources who are running the election,” he added.

The marketing campaign also will consist of nonpartisan messages on social media, billboards, radio, and other means of communication to remind people to vote, and that there are several ways to do it, including mail ballots. The effort will also be used to debunk conspiracy theories, Bluestein said.

When it comes to electorate vulnerability, the most important aspects are how, where, and when to vote, according to Matthew Stamm, director of the Multimedia Information and Security Lab at Drexel University.

“Officials are working hard to disrupt those who’d use AI and other means to disseminate false information about these elemental factors to keep people away from the polls,” said Stamm, who’s been consulted by the Pennsylvania Election Threats task force. Formed by Gov. Josh Shapiro in February, the task force is charged with combating and preventing any threats to Pennsylvania’s 2024 presidential election.

In February, New Hampshire voters were told in AI-generated robocalls that mimicked Biden’s voice that it wasn’t necessary to vote in the state’s primary.

“This is the first presidential campaign of the AI era,” Stamm said. “I believe things are only going to get worse.”

Last year, Stamm’s group debunked a political ad for Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, then a presidential candidate, that appeared on Twitter, now known as X. It showed Trump embracing and kissing Anthony Fauci, long a target of the right for his response to COVID-19.

Election watchers are concerned that people who don’t consume mainstream media may be more susceptible to conspiracies and falsehoods about voting, according to Sunil Wattal, a misinformation expert at Temple University’s Fox School of Business.

“False news is very persuasive — sometimes extremely emotional — and can be seen a great deal on social media,” Wattal said. “Such items evoke outrage, and can be more engaging and effective than real news.”

Ultimately, Wattal said, the consequences for penalizing someone for spreading fake news is extremely low, while the benefits can be quite rewarding.

“And that could tilt an election in a swing state such as Pennsylvania.”