By Doreen Garlid, February 19, 2024
(Tempe, AZ) – As we kick off the 2024 election cycle with Tempe’s upcoming elections, one of the biggest threats to our democracy is misinformation, malinformation and disinformation. Not only do we see it at the state and national level, but it’s creeping into our local elections here in Tempe. Recent negative propaganda emails and scathingly personal social media posts targeting the Tempe community have shown us that we are not immune to the same divisiveness we see on a national level. And it’s most often driven by similar forces who wish to circulate disinformation in an effort to manipulate people and change the outcome of an election.
Misinformation is sharing information that is simply incorrect because the sharer doesn’t know better. Malinformation is based on fact, but used out of context to mislead people. Disinformation is intentionally sharing incorrect information to manipulate people’s thoughts, behaviors, and of course, their votes. No one wins with this behavior, and it divides families, neighborhoods, cities, states, and nations. How can voters sort through confusing and conflicting information to know who is telling the truth? With growing extremism, artificial intelligence, and a rolling back of social media protections, voters are more susceptible to disinformation than ever, particularly communities of color who are often targeted.
For those of us running municipal campaigns, misinformation, malinformation, and disinformation is becoming more of a problem and it breaks my heart to see it in our community. I’m doing the very best I can to share honest, truthful information with Tempe voters and hope they make the right choice. I have no interest in trying to deceive people and I think Tempe citizens are smart enough to recognize jaded information when they see it. Yet there are groups in our city with large email lists who incessantly send out messages containing malinformation intended to stoke fear and mistrust, create an us-versus-them mentality toward our council, and launch personal attacks on certain candidates.
I believe Tempe is better than this. We’ve always been able to discuss issues and differences of opinion respectfully and constructively with the goal of making our city better without personally attacking each other or outright lying. Just like our national political scene, malinformation and disinformation have the power to tear our city apart, and I want to do everything I can to fight back against that. With the 2024 elections upon us, we have enough other threats to our democracy to allow this to take root in our city.
I want to be your partner in collaboration, understanding, and truth, and that means being available and transparent to you. Through decades of putting this into practice I’ve earned people’s trust. We know democracy works in Tempe, as we found out with the recent citizen-led vote on the Coyote’s hockey arena and entertainment district. So let’s work together to keep it this way. My commitment to you is to responsibly lead Tempe forward and serve our residents with integrity and compassion, just as I have the last four years. I invite you to learn more about me and my priorities at garlidfortempe.com.
