Beware: U.S. election disinformation masked as 'breaking news'

"Breaking" news, screamed an online post by a conservative American influencer as he pushed disinformation about Kamala Harris, illustrating how journalism lingo has been co-opted as a tool to amplify election falsehoods.

The misuse of the term, typically deployed by media outlets to relay major news developments, is part of a persistent assault on reality across tech platforms that researchers say have relaxed their guardrails against false information in a crucial election year.

It...