Confused by an election ad, what it says or where it comes from? See what we found
It’s election season — maybe the mostly brutally divisive one ever — and voters are being flooded with political advertisements and pleas to contribute to campaigns. That leads to questions: Where did that ad come from? Is it truthful? Is it mining my personal data? If I contribute money, will it get to the right place? As shown in the last presidential cycle, in the age of social media it is important to examine who is pulling the strings and what might be their motives.
By searching the Herald’s Election Ad Decoder, you can find out who paid for an ad, whether it contains false or misleading content, what data is being collected from you and where your money will go if you give. The Herald also worked extensively with academic experts to identify disinformation, hateful speech, foreign interference and content that promotes violence — flagging ads as such when they could jeopardize the integrity of the election.
This feature will be updated regularly between now and Nov. 3. Please check back for updates.
(Problem with the Decoder? Try this link.)
Have you seen an ad that’s not in our repository yet? Want investigative reporters to look into it for you? Submit a tip here.
This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 2:38 PM.