Cox Media Group/KIRO: Some federal lawmakers worried about voter disinformation ahead of midterms

More states are preparing for primary elections this summer ahead of the midterms.

On Capitol Hill, some members of Congress are concerned about the impact of disinformation on voters, election workers and the process itself.

Some Democrats say the false claims about the 2020 election being stolen from former President Donald Trump are a major example of election disinformation.

While some Republicans say political speech still needs to be protected as free speech.

Experts say disinformation is false content created to intentionally harm a certain group of people or organization.

Members of the nonpartisan organization Common Cause say they’ve tracked an increase in disinformation online in 2016 and 2018 with a significant surge in voting related disinformation during the 2020 election cycle.

“Disinformation agents are seeking to keep voters from casting their ballots by spreading content designed to confuse voters about the time, place and manner how to vote, intimidate or harass them from going to the polls,” said Yosef Getachew, Media & Democracy Program Director at Common Cause.