Disinformation and suppression loom over Georgia, says Black Voters Matter co-founder

Just a few months ago, it looked like Donald Trump had secured the state of Georgia for the November election. Then Joe Biden dropped out of the race and Kamala Harris jumped in.

Now, the state is very much in play.

Black voters make up about a third of the population in Georgia. Their votes will matter. So All Things Considered host Mary Louise Kelly sat down with LaTosha Brown — the co-founder of Black Voters Matter — to find out how she's thinking about the election, the threat of voter suppression and disinformation, and what Harris' candidacy means to her.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Interview highlights

Mary Louise Kelly: Tell me what's scaring you right now as you look at the state of Georgia. Seven weeks to go — what's the big challenge?

LaTosha Brown: I think what's frightening is the scope and the intensity of misinformation and disinformation. You know, on social media I've seen AI images. I'm seeing these despairing things about VP Harris that I know that are untrue or are false related to her race or identity. I'm seeing those things pop up on my timeline, right? And so that frightens me, because I think — in the absence of having truthful information — sometimes people will gravitate towards those things that are sensational, and they believe because of the way that it's presented sometimes.

Kelly: Are you frightened about efforts by activists trying to remove voters from the voting rules in Georgia? Like, there aren't as many drop boxes.

Brown: Oh, absolutely. I think what we saw with the Senate Bill 202 — that passed right after the 2022 election, which was after the hotly contested U.S. Senate race that ultimately led to Senator Warnock — we saw this passage of this