How trolls, lawsuits and layoffs led to a 'trust and safety winter' for misinformation ahead of election

Misinformation researchers say they are facing a more treacherous landscape this election season than in the past, fueled by online trolls and costly lawsuits.

Researchers are losing access to tools from social media companies that they previously relied on to conduct their studies.

Google laid off several employees, including a director, in its trust and safety research unit last month .

Researchers say they've experienced more online harassment since Musk 's takeover of Twitter .

X Corp. has launched several lawsuits against researchers and organizations for calling out X for failing to mitigate hate speech and false information.

Last year , the company altered how its data library can be used and started charging researchers $ 42,000 a month for access to 50 million tweets.

Companies are making it easier for falsehoods to spread on social media platforms.

YouTube recently removed false claims about 2020 election fraud.

Meta introduced a new policy allowing political ads to question the legitimacy of past elections.

Researchers have scored some legal victories in their efforts to keep their work alive.