League of Women Voters of Illinois Launches Plan To Identify and Avoid Mis/Disinformation
Media Contacts:
Becky Simon, LWVIL President, communications@lwvil.org
Anne Sullivan and Barb Laimins, LWVIL Misinformation and Disinformation Task Force Co-Chairs, misdisinfotaskforce@lwvil.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CHICAGO, IL, March 11, 2024 – Misinformation and Disinformation are eroding our democracy. Erroneous information can go viral quickly, with devastating consequences for voters, political candidates, and the public. This new phenomenon is sometimes called “post-truth,” when “alternative facts” replace the truth, and feelings have more weight than evidence.
To address this serious issue, the League of Women Voters of Illinois (LWVIL) has formed a Misinformation and Disinformation Task Force to develop an action plan for 2024 that will help the public identify misinformation and disinformation and verify correct information.
“People make important election decisions based on what they read, see and hear,” said Becky Simon, president of the League of Women Voters of Illinois. “With our new Misinformation and Disinformation Task Force, local Leagues will receive the tools they need to help people distinguish between facts and misinformation and disinformation.”
Some 43 local League of Women Voters chapters in Illinois will soon begin receiving a monthly digital toolkit with relevant and timely topics, including a video of an expert on the topic, a slide deck, and templates for Op-eds and topical fact sheets to use as handouts at speaking engagements and public venues.
“Through their local League of Women Voters chapter, Illinois communities will learn from a trusted source about how to identify erroneous material by carefully reading past the headlines and examining the content of the news they are consuming,” said Simon, a second-generation League member.
The Task Force recently welcomed Matt Dietrich, public information officer of the Illinois State Board of Elections (ISBE), for a public discussion on how Illinois will continue to ensure election security and integrity. The program is available to watch at lwvil.org/misdis-info.
On Wednesday, April 17, at 7 pm, the Task Force will hold another virtual event, this time discussing how we can protect democracy in the age of social media and AI, featuring speaker Diane Chang, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Brown Institute for Media Innovation at Columbia Journalism School and the former head of Election Integrity Product Strategy at Meta. Visit lwvil.org/misdis-info to register.
Co-chaired by Barb Laimins, League of Women Voters of Wheaton, and Anne Sullivan, League of Women Voters of Wilmette, the awareness campaign will continue through 2024.
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Founded 104 years ago and headquartered in Chicago, the 3,800-member League of Women Voters of Illinois is a nonpartisan organization that works to protect free, fair and accessible elections, and increase civic engagement. The League endeavors to improve public understanding of major public policy issues and influence public policy through education and advocacy. For further information, visit lwvil.org.