The Edge of Democracy Part 5: Disinformation

All images from News Literacy Project at newslit.org

In Part 5 of The Edge of Democracy, we uncover how disinformation is being used to divide voters, weaponize faith, and undermine free elections. Who benefits from these lies? And what will it take to rebuild trust before democracy itself breaks?

The New Battleground: Truth Itself

Disinformation is not a background problem anymore. It is a direct threat to national stability, and it is spreading faster than institutions can respond. It confuses voters, fractures communities, and redirects anger away from those in power and toward neighbors, coworkers, and even family members. The falsehoods about mail-in ballots, vaccines, and government accountability are deliberate. They are engineered to produce chaos, and they are reshaping the American story in real time.

Millions now exist in separate realities. Each has its own facts and its own villains, and each reality demands loyalty. How do we hold a country together when truth is no longer shared?

Dividing Voters by Design

Disinformation does more than mislead. It isolates. It forces people into rigid political corners where conversation becomes dangerous and compromise feels like surrender.

False claims about election fraud have convinced many voters that democratic systems are permanently broken, even though every audit and court ruling has upheld their integrity. Others are told that election workers or public servants are part of a hidden plot. The damage is not limited to mistrust in government. It is mistrust in one another, and it is spreading.

We must ask: Who gains when Americans lose faith in their own elections?Who profits when citizens begin to see each other as threats instead of participants in a shared civic project?

Weaponizing Faith

Faith communities are now prime targets for manipulation. Disinformation campaigns push messages designed to inflame fear, amplify resentment, and turn spiritual identity into a political weapon.

Pastors are pressured to repeat conspiracy theories. Online voices claim divine authority while spreading lies that have no grounding in theology or fact. Political operatives understand that if they can control a community’s fears, they can control its votes.

This is not an expression of faith. It is the exploitation of faith.We have to ask: Why do bad-faith actors seek to turn religion into a battleground?What happens to a nation when spiritual beliefs are hijacked for political gain?

The Erosion of Democratic Norms Inside Congress

Disinformation does not only poison public opinion. It has also begun to erode the norms that allow Congress to function.

Members now refuse to acknowledge legitimate election results. Committees are weaponized to pursue political enemies instead of governing. Bipartisan cooperation, once essential to the legislative process, is now treated as a weakness. Government shutdowns last longer because political incentives reward spectacle over problem solving. The loudest voices often replace the most informed ones, and misinformation spreads inside the chambers where facts should matter most.

When lawmakers stop agreeing on basic truth, Congress cannot govern.When Congress cannot govern, democracy begins to fail from the inside.

The Slow Collapse That Feels Sudden

Disinformation does not topple a democracy in a single moment. It weakens the foundation day by day. Trust falls first. Evidence stops mattering. Citizens lose confidence in elections, in public institutions, in journalism, and in each other. By the time the damage becomes visible, much of the structure has already been hollowed out.

A government cannot function if half the country believes the other half is deliberately destroying the nation. Elections cannot work if millions reject results before a single vote is counted. A society cannot survive when truth becomes optional.

So we must confront the question: How close are we to a point of no return?And if we cross that line, can we rebuild what was lost?

Rebuilding Trust Before It Is Too Late

Restoring faith in democratic institutions is not about forcing agreement. It is about restoring a shared foundation where disagreement is possible without tearing the country apart.

That requires:

• Strengthening local and independent journalism

• Teaching media literacy as a core civic skill

• Increasing transparency in how votes are counted

• Holding persistent disinformation spreaders accountable

• Expecting political leaders to confront lies instead of repeating them

• Supporting faith communities that reject manipulation

• Reforming congressional incentives so that governing matters more than performance

The challenge is enormous, but the question remains urgent. Are we prepared to defend truth, even when lies feel easier?If we are, then we can build a culture where truth has value again.

What Part 6 Will Explore

Part 6 will conclude the series by bringing every thread together. It will focus on solutions and on the path forward. It will explore how communities can rebuild trust, how Congress can restore its norms, how voters can resist manipulation, and how civic education and media literacy can strengthen the next generation. It will highlight acts of courage, innovation, and cooperation that are happening now but rarely make national headlines. Most of all, it will offer a hopeful and realistic roadmap for how ordinary people can protect democracy by choosing truth, accountability, and engagement over apathy and fear.

The crisis is real. The clock is ticking. But the story is not finished yet.