Should politicians be more upfront in an age of misinformation?

In brief…

• The Conservative Party rebranded its official press account on X as "Tax Check UK". Critics say this is a misleading claim.
• They did a similar thing in 2019, and it has raised questions as to whether they are acting appropriately
• With so much misinformation spread on social media, there are a few things you can look out for to avoid being misled

“The election was stolen” alleged Donald Trump in 2020 after suffering defeat to Joe Biden.

Just one of more than 30,000 instances where the former US president has made misleading claims.

While the pair are going head to head once again, it is not just the other side of the pond that we may need to be wary of.

This week, the Conservative Party rebranded its official press account on X as "Tax Check UK" - a Tory attack line on Labour’s tax plans. And it was not the first time the Conservatives have done something like this.

In the 2019 campaign, the CCHQ changed its Twitter handle to “factcheckUK” - drawing criticism at the time for misleading the public.

Is this an acceptable tactic? Or should the parties know better than to masquerade as something they are not in an age of mass misinformation.

Here’s what the News Agents think.

For Jon Sopel, the Conservatives’ move was “on the wrong side of the line”.

Particularly given people’s “susceptibility to being given stuff that is not true” as more and more people get their news from social media.

“We saw it in 2016 in Brexit, we saw it in 2016 in the Trump campaign”, Sopel adds.

Emily Maitlis says social media is “extraordinary now” because “we read so much more and we understand so much less”.

Lewis Goodall asks why this kind of behaviour is allowed to run rampant online while broadcasting regulations are strict.

He says: “It shows again the complete asymmetry of regulation.

“You have party political broadcasts on a very short length of time, it's all properly sort of spread around in different parties and so on.

“And then yet, online, it's perfectly OK, it's perfectly within the law for a party to just masquerade as being something that it's not.”

How to avoid misinformation

There is no denying it is difficult, but there are some extra steps you can take to make sure you are not misinformed this general election.

According to the Electoral Commission, it is important to think critically about campaign material.

Vijay Rangarajan, Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission, says: “We encourage all voters to think critically about what you see and hear in this campaign, and to check our website to be sure you have the information you need to vote on 4 July, or by postal vote before that."

That means thinking twice about things you see on social media. So if you see a sponsored post or a dodgy claim, just make sure you check the source.

There are also a number of fact-checking sites that have put a lot of resources into the election. Be sure to use these if you spot something that might not look right.

Artificial Intelligence is also something to look out for. It has not been so prominent this election, but there are still a few days to go before voters head to the polls.

So AI images and manipulated videos are also something to be wary of. To avoid being tricked, look for a lack of detail in pictures - think Kate Middleton’s dodgy hand.

Equally, if something looks almost too perfect, also take note.

Listen to the latest episode of The News Agents podcast now.