Hi John, I’m Noor! If we haven’t met before, I lead our Digital Defenders program at Women’s March.
I’m writing to you because we currently face a massive disinformation crisis in our country. This crisis poses a direct threat to our democracy and our ability to keep pushing forward in our progressive agenda.
That’s why today I want to take a moment to explain the impact of disinformation online and share with you the work Women’s March is doing to address this crisis.
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THE CHALLENGE: |
Especially since the rise of Trump, far-right and extremist groups have been exploiting social media networks to disperse disinformation that raises money for the far-right while eroding our democracy.
The false narratives that they promote online have real and dangerous consequences. This was made clear when Trump and his supporters generated widespread misinformation about the 2020 election results — leading up to an attack on the Capitol on January 6th.
Not satisfied with a failed coup, the far-right has set its sights on undermining our national COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Politicizing COVID-19 vaccines has been both profitable and effective for the far-right; a recent study found that only 51% of women said they were somewhat or very likely to take the COVID vaccine. Getting as many people as possible in our country vaccinated — and equipping them with the knowledge and information they need to feel confident in doing so — is one of the biggest hurdles facing our nation to overcome the pandemic.
The far-right has only accumulated more power with coordinated efforts to recruit members to their ranks as they spread lies to line their pockets. Over the past years, Women’s Marchers have been increasingly concerned about losing their loved ones to Q-Anon or other conspiracy communities. They wish they had known how to talk to them with love, compassion, and grace before they lost them for good.
We know that there is no magical solution or quick algorithm for deprogramming our peers, but we do know that we have to intervene before there is more grief and violence.
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HOW WE'VE BEEN FIGHTING BACK: |
Since 2019, the Digital Defenders program has trained over 1,500 activists in debunking dis/misinformation through peer-to-peer interactions on social media.
Our trainings have covered issues that are most plagued by deliberately planted falsehoods and myths online: immigration, abortion, climate, COVID-19, protests, and the 2020 election. Digital Defenders are Women’s Marchers like you.
Our training time is 6-8 hours in length, and our sessions are often held over a number of days depending on the complexity of the content. Upon graduating, our Digital Defenders receive coaching on their engagement, have access to robust messaging toolkits and most importantly, enter a community of peer learning about dis/misinformation across a variety of issues.
All of our content is supplemented by content tailored for sharing on Instagram and Facebook (in our election phase itself, we disseminated over 240 pieces of creative content, with over 190 million total views).
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OUR NEXT STEPS: |
Everywhere we look, people are talking about vaccines — and in turn, there's a lot of disinformation out there about how safe they are for women, their effectiveness, and how to get vaccinated.
That's why WM's Digital Defenders is taking on this challenge head on. With enough grassroots support, here's what future Women's March's efforts to combat vaccine disinformation will look like:
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HOW YOU CAN HELP: |
I’m going to be honest with you: There are very few organizations — especially led by women — that do work like this because it takes significant funds, planning, and resources to run a disinformation training program.
That’s why today we’re asking our grassroots supporters to help us raise the money we need to grow our Digital Defenders program.
Thank you for being a part of this important project. Our work is only possible thanks to grassroots donors like you.
Noor
Noor Mir
Digital Advocacy Director
Women's March
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