Reddit has released its plans for countering misinformation around the U.S. midterm elections—and it’s undeniably got a hard job ahead.

In 2019, the site revealed that it had been infiltrated by Russian propaganda in the run-up to the 2016 election, and that it had removed a “few hundred” accounts. And this time round, false claims are circulating on Reddit and elsewhere to a greater degree than ever.

Reddit already specifically bans deliberate attempts to interfere with or undermine the integrity of civic or electoral processes.

This means posting misinformation about time, place, and means of voting; voter eligibility requirements or specific groups’ ability to vote; and the rules and procedures governing the electoral process.

But this time round, said the firm, things are a lot harder, mostly thanks to the advent of AI. And, as a result, users are encouraged to disclose that AI generated or modified it, such as by adding a text-based disclaimer, to reduce confusion and make sure they don’t get banned.

“While AI-generated content is not blanket-prohibited as long as it follows individual community rules and sitewide policy, any content designed to deliberately mislead people about real-world events or real individuals is strictly forbidden, whether generated through AI or other means,” said the firm.

However, Reddit said it’s improved its systems substantially, through the use of advanced AI detection models that have cut user exposure to spam and inauthentic content by 20 per cent, and that now revoke nearly two million fake upvotes a day.

And it’s calling for moderators to help, through safety tools like Crowd Control and the ability to alert the company directly. It also encourages communities to set their own subreddit-specific guidelines, such as “no politics” rules, which are independent from sitewide enforcement.

According to the Brennan Center for Justice , the most prevalent election misinformation around right now relates to claims of ineligible voters registering to vote, illegal ballot collection activities, voters submitting counterfeit or duplicate mail ballots, and other similar claims related to registration and mail voting.

And, it warned, as the election draws closer, we’re likely to see more misinformation and disinformation from high-profile public officials and influential political personalities.

“These claims may be made to preemptively diminish confidence in elections in case of unfavorable results, to deter participation in elections, or to signal to followers what they should be on the lookout for in the election,” said the Center’s counsel and manager, elections & government, Derek Tisler.

“They also pre-seed narratives that can then be referenced later in the election cycle. For example, early misleading claims about voting system vulnerabilities may later motivate investigations into those systems, and alleged noncitizen registration, even when disproven, can be used to cast doubt on results.”

Certainly, election misinformation is already spreading fast. Fact-checking website NewsGuard said it has already identified and debunked 25 false claims about the midterms that have gone viral on social media platforms—of which 11 centered on supposed election fraud.

Examples include claims that Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, called for the introduction of Sharia law in 2022; that 31 people were illegally registered to vote at PO boxes in a San Diego UPS store, and even that Ken Paxton’s Senate campaign paid for a billboard reading “Pedos Ain’t That Bad”.

Snopes, meanwhile, has debunked claims that election ballots marked by a poll worker could be disqualified , and that 163 votes for then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in 2020 all came from one house in Oklahoma.

nd, of course, the misinformation won’t end when the polls close, with states counting ballots, reporting and confirming vote totals, and certifying final results.

“Political leaders, influential figures, government officials, and losing candidates who are unhappy with the election results may start to coalesce around theories or claims that emerged through Election Day to protest results, investigate claims, file lawsuits, or pressure officials to interfere with lawful election process,” warned Tisler.