Dr. Marisa Abrajano: Latino voters and election misinformation

September 24, 2026

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Dra. Marisa Abrajano: Los votantes latinos y la desinformación electoral

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As the midterm elections approach, misinformation continues to spread online, with previous polls showing Latino voters are frequently targeted by misleading political content. On September 24, 2026, SciLine interviewed Dr. Marisa Abrajano, a professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego.

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ANCHOR
AS THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS NEAR… MISINFORMATION CONTINUES TO SPREAD ONLINE.
AND RESEARCH SHOWS LATINO VOTERS ARE ESPECIALLY TARGETED.

VO
DOCTOR MARISA ABRAJANO IS A POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO.
SHE SAYS SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES… LIKE META… WHICH OWNS FACEBOOK… INSTAGRAM… AND WHATSAPP… USE ALGORITHMS TO FACT-CHECK ENGLISH CONTENT CIRCULATING ONLINE… BUT *NOT CONTENT IN OTHER LANGUAGES.
BECAUSE OF THAT… SHE SAYS SPANISH SPEAKERS ARE EXPOSED TO MORE MISINFORMATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA THAN ENGLISH SPEAKERS… WITH FALSE CLAIMS SPREADING IN PREVIOUS ELECTIONS ABOUT ABORTION… ELECTION FRAUD… AND COVID-19 VACCINES.

SOT
Duration: 1:04
Super: Dr. Marisa Abrajano – Professor, University of California, San Diego
“The findings from our research is important because, especially for Latinos that use Spanish for information and get news from Spanish sources, they are typically also the ones who are newer entrants to the United States. So they’re still learning about the U.S. political system and becoming politically incorporated into the United States. And so, on top of that, if they are being exposed or they’re dealing with this very complicated information environment that they have to navigate, and also in our study we found that they’re more likely to believe in these false political narratives, these are the Latinos who it’s going to make it harder for them to learn about politics in the United States, but also potentially to be the ones most manipulated in upcoming elections, like the upcoming midterm election, but of course, in local, state and presidential elections going forward.”

VO
IF A FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBER SHARES MISINFORMATION… DOCTOR ABRAJANO RECOMMENDS ASKING WHERE THEY GOT THE INFORMATION AND ENCOURAGING THEM TO CHECK THE SOURCE.
SHE ALSO RECOMMENDS SENDING THEM TO REPUTABLE FACT-CHECKING WEBSITES.

Raw, full-length interview covers:

Why Latino voters are often targeted by election misinformation and the types of false claims that circulate;
Why misinformation spreads more easily on non-English-language platforms;
The differences in how Spanish- and English-speaking voters consume news based on language preference;
How Latinos’ heavy reliance on YouTube for political news—often from sources outside major media outlets—is shaping what they know;
What research she co-led on the 2022 midterms found about the link between Spanish-language social media use and belief in misinformation; and
What researchers currently recommend for responding when family members and friends share misinformation.