Election Day live updates: Polls are now closed in almost every state as Trump takes North Carolina: NPR

This article originally appeared as part of NPR’s live coverage of the 2024 election. For more election coverage from NPR Network, visit our live updates page.

With results coming in tonight, please be careful when evaluating images, videos and audio. They can easily be manipulated or taken out of context.

Take this 2020 tweet alleged voter suppression, supposedly evidenced by a photo of a stack of mailboxes. It says: “Photo taken in Wisconsin. This is happening right before our eyes. They are sabotaging USPS to sabotage mail-in voting. This is massive voter suppression and part of their plan to steal the election.”

UCLA law professor Richard L. Hasen examined the claim in his 2022 book: Cheap Speech: How Disinformation Poisons Our Politics – and How We Can Cure It. It turns out that while the photo is real, the voter suppression allegation is not. The mailboxes were pictured outside a company that had a contract to repair old mailboxes for the U.S. Postal Service rather than scrap them.

These days, “the old saying ‘seeing is believing’ just doesn’t really apply anymore,” said Rachel Moran of the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public. When you come across a medium online, it’s worth asking: “Is what I’m hearing or seeing generated by AI?” Or could it be real and deceptively edited?”

Ultimately, it is up to us to protect ourselves and our communities [from misinformation] by only sharing what has been verified,” said Hannah Covington, senior director of educational content at the News Literacy Project.

For more tips on how to avoid spreading election misinformation, read the full article.