Misinformation swirls in non-English languages before US midterm elections

NEW YORK – Unsubstantiated rumours and outright falsehoods spread widely in immigrant communities before the US presidential election in 2020. That is happening again in the run-up to 2022’s midterm elections, researchers say, but with an insidious twist: The social media accounts pushing misinformation are now targeting audiences in more languages on more topics and across more digital platforms, with scant resistance from social media companies. In recent weeks, posts exaggerating the fallout from inflation have been aimed at Americans from Latin American countries that have been crippled by poor economic management. Conspiracy theories that spread in August about the…