Experts and political figures are sounding the alarm on the spread of election disinformation on social media, putting leading platforms under intense scrutiny in the final days of the presidential race.

Between investigations into leading social media companies to prominent figures voicing concerns about false election claims, the past week saw increased discussion around the topic as some brace for postelection disinformation.

The long-lasting falsehoods over the 2020 election have made voters and election watchers more attuned to the potential for disinformation, though experts said recent technology advances are making it more difficult for users to discern fake content.

“We are seeing new formats, new modalities of manipulation of some sort including ... this use of generative AI [artificial intelligence], the use of these mock news websites to preach more fringe stories and, most importantly perhaps, the fact that now these campaigns span the entire media ecosystem online,” said Emilio Ferrara, professor of computer science and communication at the University of Southern California.

“And they are not just limited to perhaps one mainstream platform like we [saw] in 2020 or even in 2016,” said Ferrara, who co-authored a study that discovered a multiplatform network amplifying “conservative narratives” and former President Trump’s 2024 campaign.

False content has emerged online throughout this election cycle, often in the form of AI-generated deepfakes. The images have sparked a flurry of warnings from lawmakers and strategists about attempts to influence the race's outcome or sow chaos and distrust in the electoral process.

Just last week, a video falsely depicting individuals claiming to be from Haiti and voting illegally in multiple Georgia counties circulated across social media, prompting Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to ask X and other social platforms to remove the content.

Intelligence agencies later determined Russian influence actors were behind the video.

Thom Shanker, director of the Project for Media and National Security at George Washington University, noted the fake content used in earlier cycles was “sort of clumsy and obvious,” unlike newer,........

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