Voters need to sort fact from fiction this election season. Here’s how | Opinion

This elections season, my mother has developed an impressive reflex for hitting “mute” on the remote control.

Our nightly routine involves dinner together while watching the news on TV. But the second a political ad flashes on screen, Mom cuts the sound.

The relentless negativity, fearmongering and misleading messages are enough to make us lose our appetites. The political climate makes it hard to make sense of what’s actually true.

In Florida, that is often by design.

The state is a primary target for bad actors who want to sow doubt in the elections process by spreading misinformation and disinformation. It’s especially a problem for Latino voters like me and my Cuban-Puerto Rican family. Researchers have found that misinformation and disinformation have exploded in Spanish-language media. A political science professor at Florida International University recently told lawmakers that the proliferation of mis- and disinformation is even changing the way Latinos vote.

So, what’s a voter to do? No one wants their vote to be manipulated. And we all want to be informed when we go to the ballot box, so that we make decisions that are best for us, our families and our communities.

The good news is that there are easy ways you can counter misinformation and protect your vote: Build your news literacy skills. Being news-literate means that you can identify credible sources and sort facts from fiction. Here are some tips to become more news-literate this election season.

▪ Watch for red flags: Emotions are often charged during high-stakes elections. Bad actors know this and try to manipulate our feelings so that we echo their messages. Misinformation is often designed to target our most deeply held values and beliefs, elicit a strong reaction and scramble our rational thought process. Be aware when your heartstrings are being pulled. It’s a common tactic for misinformation.

Also be on the lookout for phrases that often accompany misinformation, like, “Make this go viral!” or “The media won’t cover this.” Such language can be attractive because it’s exciting, taps into our curiosity and makes complicated issues seem easier to understand. But it often accompanies conspiracy theories.

▪ Hit the brakes: When you come across emotionally charged messages, one of the most powerful things you can do is to simply pause. Think, especially before you re-share something on social media. You could unwittingly spread misinformation, and studies show it’s much harder to take it back once it’s already spread.

Ask yourself if the information you’re about to share is true, or if you’re engaging in confirmation bias, which happens when you gravitate toward information that affirms what you already believe.

Did that post about access to abortion make your blood boil? Pause for a beat. Set your emotions aside. And consider the source and motivations behind the message before you amplify it.

▪ Check a variety of sources: If you’re on your phone or computer, open a new tab and search for more information about what you’re seeing. This is called lateral reading. Often, a quick Google search will reveal that the information you’re worked up about has already been fact-checked by a credible organization like Snopes or PolitiFact, which use impartial journalism standards to vet what’s true and what’s not.

It’s important to get our information from a variety of sources — even those that challenge our assumptions. Friends and family often think and feel the same way we do about issues important to us, but breaking out of these information bubbles can expose you to information and news you might otherwise not come across.

If it turns out that something you read isn’t true, it’s always better to comment on the post itself, rather than re-sharing it in any way that might end up spreading the falsehood even further.

There’s a lot at stake when Floridians head to the polls in November. We’ll decide who gets to make important decisions for us in Congress and at the statehouse when it comes to issues like what our children are taught in school, how we treat immigrants and how to keep our environment clean. Be news-literate and be informed, not misled, when you vote.

Rey Arocha helps coordinate community events for educators at the News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan nonprofit building a national movement to advance news literacy.