Platform-fueled election interference in the U.S.

In recent surveys, more than 1 in 3 local election officials say they have experienced threats, harassment, or abuse and 1 in 5 local election officials report they are unlikely to continue to serve in the 2026 midterms. This leaves US election infrastructure dangerously vulnerable at a time of rising authoritarian threat.

Starting in 2023, Pluro Labs applied novel, AI-enabled research methods to analyze reports of real-world harassment and interference in local US elections on a leading social media platform.

What we found was bracing - our findings include hundreds of videos that depict real-world harassment, interference, and lawbreaking actions targeting local election processes across the United States. This content, which includes over 230 incidents across 21 US states, has led to violence at polling sites, while also inciting harm against election workers and voters online. Worse, many actors make money through the platform from this activity, reflecting an online economy that fuels harm to safe and secure elections.
‍
In 2024, armed with newfound data and insight into this trend, Pluro Labs partnered with nonpartisan leaders in election security, technology reform, and law enforcement to counter this threat and deepen resilience during the November 2024 elections.

We are now applying our research to shut down the online economy fueling real-world harm to safe election process, by

‍

• Informing and enabling election workers and jurisdictions to increase resilience to harms from this trend.

• Issuing a digital report to democracy protection and tech reform leaders outlining the harms, how platform economics fuel them, and our plan of action.

• Enabling legal, regulatory, and advocacy action to win lasting protections to election workers and safety.