Misinformation dropped dramatically the week after Twitter banned Trump
Source: Washington Post
Online misinformation about election fraud plunged 73 percent after several social media sites suspended President Trump and key allies last week, research firm Zignal Labs has found, underscoring the power of tech companies to limit the falsehoods poisoning public debate when they act aggressively.
The new research by the San Francisco-based analytics firm reported that conversations about election fraud dropped from 2.5 million mentions to 688,000 mentions across several social media sites in the week after Trump was banned from Twitter.
Election disinformation had for months been a major subject of online misinformation, beginning even before the Nov. 3 election and pushed heavily by Trump and his allies.
... snip ...
Disinformation researchers consistently have found that relatively few accounts acted as superspreaders during the election, with their tweets and posts generating a disproportionate share of the falsehoods and misleading narratives that spread about election fraud, mail-in ballots and other topics related to the vote.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/16/misinformation-trump-twitter/
Blue Owl
(50,401 posts)Talitha
(6,593 posts)mucifer
(23,548 posts)UpInArms
(51,284 posts)after the 2017 inauguration
mucifer
(23,548 posts)can't ya spell?
mucifer
(23,548 posts)It was a while ago.
SammyWinstonJack
(44,130 posts)Initech
(100,080 posts)2naSalit
(86,646 posts)SunSeeker
(51,569 posts)JCMach1
(27,559 posts)Permanently
Historic NY
(37,449 posts)Ford_Prefect
(7,901 posts)Last edited Sun Jan 17, 2021, 05:55 AM - Edit history (1)
Armed forces networks could do it overnight.
Edit: NEWSMAX should be prominently on this list.
doublethink
(6,823 posts)The truth shall make you free. Peace.
BigmanPigman
(51,608 posts)If Faux Ruse was canceled along with social media the Dems might actually have a chance to inform people with FACTS.
Fakebook and Fux are responsible for a certain percentage of the misinformation for several decades.
Talitha
(6,593 posts)Ford_Prefect
(7,901 posts)They are more subtle than RT but along the same lines IMO. Not everything they publish has the RW tilt. But on some subjects and coverage it is unmistakable what their editors prefer.
I meant to say NEWSMAX which has OANN's degree of RW slur and sneer.
LiberalLovinLug
(14,174 posts)Cleaning up their platforms of fake news bots? If it was this easy. One day.
Mr.Bill
(24,300 posts)Blue_playwright
(1,568 posts)I dont know how they would battle it completely long term - other than start charging a small fee to businesses?
Bev54
(10,053 posts)disinformation. Misinformation suggests that it was inadvertently put out there. Disinformation is put out purposely to deceive.
UCmeNdc
(9,600 posts)Trump knew twitter and FB was the source of his power.
ailsagirl
(22,897 posts)Best thing twitter ever did!!
🤩
NewJeffCT
(56,828 posts)and trolls with new lines of attack
BumRushDaShow
(129,076 posts)It was mostly magnified by millions of fake Russian bot twitter accounts retweeting the bullshit.
llashram
(6,265 posts)Too many nazis have been awakened, I feel.
orangecrush
(19,571 posts)GOOD
Nululu
(842 posts)Trump was the source of over 30% of covid lies, hoping that situation also improved
DeminPennswoods
(15,286 posts)Aussie105
(5,401 posts)the infection and irritation will settle down quickly.
THAT was always the solution, should have happened sooner!
liberalmuse
(18,672 posts)And mental wellness went up.
DemoTex
(25,397 posts)But Pence is, forever, the "Lord of the Flies."
JohnnyRingo
(18,636 posts)Actually, it's very credible, but it's unbelievable.
No, that's not right either, it's very believable, but predictable.
That's it! This is incredibly and unbelievably predictable.
UpInArms
(51,284 posts)world wide wally
(21,744 posts)BobTheSubgenius
(11,564 posts)Something to give them at least a brief overview.
BlueWavePsych
(2,635 posts)icymist
(15,888 posts)Facebook's and Twitter's part in helping to spread misinformation is dangerous to our country.
Thank you
Aussie105
(5,401 posts)You (*) throw lots of different slanted messages out there - and why not? It's free! (Unlike TV ads)
The ones that resonate with the masses, as judged by retweets and followers, are the ones you push further.
A new topic comes up? Easy, new slant, new dose of media poison, etc. Fruitful process! Never stops!
*GASP* What happens if people catch on they are being played and leave Face(less)Book and Twitcher, see what is been going on, and don't come back? Oh NO!
But this should not be a surprise, surely? 'Unregulated media' means it sinks to the lowest common denominator. Always!
(*) 'You' being trolls, stirrers, evil foreigners, axe grinders, Chief_Malcontent_in_the_WH, etc.
IronLionZion
(45,450 posts)as people stuck at home spent more time online reading social media feeling paranoid. And bad actors decided to exploit that anxiety and paranoia by encouraging them to distrust official communications about anything from COVID to election results.
It's been well established that Russian accounts helped amplify the spread of misinformation here in the US.
appmanga
(571 posts)...can never again pretend they don't know the impact of letting propaganda and conspiracy theories flow unchecked. They may want to pretend it's not their job to "censor", but, like other media, they have a responsibility to not let the society be poisoned by lies and disinformation. And to rely on a few moderators with their own agendas isn't enough.
Response to UpInArms (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed