As the November midterm elections draw closer—just three weeks away now—election officials in St. Louis are sounding the alarm about a troubling wave of misinformation spreading across social media. The falsehood, which has been circulating in various forms, claims that any ballot bearing an extra mark will be automatically disqualified and thrown out. For many voters, this kind of post is deeply unsettling. It taps into existing anxieties about election integrity and makes people wonder whether their voice will actually count. But according to St. Louis County election officials, the claim is simply not true. In fact, the exact opposite…

Let’s be honest: almost all of us have shared something online that turned out to be completely wrong. Maybe it was a wild headline about a celebrity that made you laugh, or a shocking photo that seemed to explain a current event, or a medical “miracle” that your aunt posted in the family group chat. You didn’t mean to spread garbage, of course. You just reacted. The headline made you feel something, and in that split second, the share button seemed like the right move. That’s exactly how misinformation works, and that’s why the very idea of a “spot the…