Latino Voters in Florida Bombarded With Election Disinformation

By Dana Cruz First Posted: Oct 21, 2020 05:27 AM EDT

Latino voters in Florida are becoming targets of disinformation and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, advocacy groups and experts said.

Latino Voters Go To The Polls Early In Florida

(Photo : G. De Cardenas/Getty Images)

According to an ABC News report, Latino voters in Florida get most disinformation from Spanish language social media sites. Incorrect information during a campaign season isn't new.

Experts, politicians, and national security officials are aware that there is a rising number of election-related disinformation, specifically in Southern Florida's Latino community.

For this election, however, Latino voters are a key voting demographic, especially in Florida's major battleground state.

The rise in disinformation had experts worried. They noted that if Latino voters continue to fall victim to misleading messages, the swing state could easily be voting based on conspiracies.

Disinformation Seeps into Mainstream

The Sun Sentinel noted in a report that disinformation targeting Latinos isn't just limited to the internet.

Even mainstream Spanish language outlets catch incorrect information and take them as true. This is where the problem grows bigger.

A greater portion of Florida's 2.4 million registered Latino voters become more exposed to the disinformation. According to Pew Research Center, this voting bloc makes up 17 percent of all registered voters in the state.

For the entire U.S. voting population, Hispanic voters represent the largest minority group. This might be the first time that some 32 million Hispanic citizens made up this much of the voting population, said MIT Technology Review.

There are also other states with the largest Hispanic voting groups, including New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and Nevada. These are considered battleground states as well.

In other states like North Carolina and Pennsylvania, Hispanic voters are also projected to give a "critical boost" to tight races.

The Equis Research also found that Hispanic voters could easily pivot the election in five states with tiny margins.

Cause of Disinformation in Latino Voters

While social media plays a vital role in sparking disinformation in Latino voters, the fuller picture provides little information on the root cause.

But Hector Sanchez of civic engagement non-profit Mi Familia Vota said Latinos are particularly vulnerable to misinformation and disinformation. Sanchez believed that language could be part of this vulnerability among Latinos.

"The language barrier coupled with the mistrust in government makes Latinos vulnerable to all types of misinformation," he said.

Palm Beach resident Rolando Chang Barrero told MIT Tech Review that disinformation has become confusing for him in his neighbors.

As president of the county's Democratic Hispanic Caucus, people approach Barrero to fact check. People will go to his house to ask him if the information they see is true, and he'd explain the nuance.

He also noticed that the mixed messages have been more confusing, particularly in this election. He recalls it being "really bad with fake calls, fake texts, manipulated things."

Journalist and 1040 AM Actualidad radio host Roberto Tejera added that disinformation is said "constantly."

"It's sort of the daily bread of Spanish radio," he said. For that, he wants to combat disinformation by devoting a daily segment.

There are 330,000 more Democrat Latinos than Republicans in Florida. But there are some 843,000 Latinos who are not registered under a party affiliation. It means their votes are up for grabs, and it makes them more open to the influence of disinformation.