Disinformation Accountability

People use social media as a main source of news and information, and bad actors want take advantage to mislead and suppress voters. Common Cause is responding in defense of our democracy.

Lies about elections and our democracy that spread online can have dangerous real-world consequences, from targeted voter suppression to the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

That is why Common Cause has launched our Information Accountability campaign, where we track and flag misleading content on social media around Election Day.

We educate voters by creating inoculation content that makes them resilient to disinformation. We also advocate for better policies and practices to create better online protections and fight disinformation.

What We’re Doing


Affordable Connectivity Program

Campaign

Affordable Connectivity Program

From checking one’s voter registration status online to finding the nearest polling location, internet access is crucial to actively taking part in democracy.

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) helps ensure that everyone can get online.
No Fox Fee

Campaign

No Fox Fee

Common Cause is urging cable companies to stop Fox News from raising our bills to pay for its election lies.

Take Action


Share Your Story

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Share Your Story

Help us hold media platforms and bad actors accountable! We are looking for stories about how election disinformation, internet access, and news sources impact how Americans participate in our democracy. Please respond to one or more of the following questions using this form. Have you or a loved one experienced Cyber Suppression? Has your content/ account every been banned/ suppressed/ suspended due to engaging in political topics? Do you suspect that your personal information (party...
Common Cause
Sign Up As A Digital Democracy Activist

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Sign Up As A Digital Democracy Activist

Are you interested in defending your community from cyber suppression? If so, you should become a Digital Activist!
Common Cause
Have an Election Conversation

Have an Election Conversation

Use our tested method for having effective conversations about our elections. Talking to friends and family is the most effective way to equip voters with election information and information verification skills.

These conversations are impactful, long lasting, and can also be intimidating. But there is too much at stake to skip these crucial conversations

Your financial support helps us make an impact by holding power accountable and strengthening democracy.

Donate

How We The People Stood Up to Online Election Lies

Blog Post

How We The People Stood Up to Online Election Lies

The effects of online disinformation on the 2022 midterm elections, reflections from the grassroots volunteers behind Common Cause’s Social Media Monitoring campaign, and how to get involved in the modern fight for democracy!

Related Resources

See all Related Resources

Report

Highlights and Accomplishments From 2022

Report

As a Matter of Fact: The Harms Caused by Election Disinformation Report

Donald Trump’s Big Lie is working, and we have to respond. Just as we came together last year, rising up to vote safely and securely in record numbers during a global pandemic, we must now rise up to stop election disinformation efforts in future elections.

Legal Filing

Complaint against foreign nationals buying election-related social media ads

Common Cause filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Election Commission (FEC), alleging that one or more unknown foreign nationals made expenditures, independent expenditures or disbursements in connection with the 2016 presidential election in violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act.

Legal Filing

Common Cause v. Russian Facebook Advertisers

Press

FCC Urged to Amend Regulation to Account for False AI Content

Press Release

FCC Urged to Amend Regulation to Account for False AI Content

Today, Common Cause, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry, and a number of other concerned organizations, filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in a rulemaking urging the agency to address disclosure and transparency of artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content in political advertisements on the nation’s airwaves. The groups warn of the dangers posed by the new technology in an era when political disinformation is widespread and the public has...

SCOTUS Strikes Down Injunction Barring Contacts with Social Media Platforms on Disinformation

Press Release

SCOTUS Strikes Down Injunction Barring Contacts with Social Media Platforms on Disinformation

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down an injunction barring the White House and other government agencies from communicating with and encouraging social media platforms to curb the spread of mis- and disinformation. The injunction also limited the government’s ability to communicate with civil society groups to limit disinformation online.

New York Times: New Group Joins the Political Fight Over Disinformation Online

News Clip

New York Times: New Group Joins the Political Fight Over Disinformation Online

“Disinformation will remain an issue as long as the strategic gains of engaging in it, promoting it and profiting from it outweigh consequences for spreading it,” Common Cause, the nonpartisan public interest group, wrote in a report published last week that warned of a new wave of disinformation around this year’s vote.

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