Authors
Deen Freelon, Michael Bossetta, Chris Wells, Josephine Lukito, Yiping Xia, Kirsten Adams
Publication date
2022/6
Journal
Social Science Computer Review
Volume
40
Issue
3
Pages
560-578
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Description
The recent rise of disinformation and propaganda on social media has attracted strong interest from social scientists. Research on the topic has repeatedly observed ideological asymmetries in disinformation content and reception, wherein conservatives are more likely to view, redistribute, and believe such content. However, preliminary evidence has suggested that race may also play a substantial role in determining the targeting and consumption of disinformation content. Such racial asymmetries may exist alongside, or even instead of, ideological ones. Our computational analysis of 5.2 million tweets by the Russian government-funded “troll farm” known as the Internet Research Agency sheds light on these possibilities. We find stark differences in the numbers of unique accounts and tweets originating from ostensibly liberal, conservative, and Black left-leaning individuals. But diverging from prior empirical …
Total citations
202120222023202434324626
Scholar articles
D Freelon, M Bossetta, C Wells, J Lukito, Y Xia… - Social Science Computer Review, 2022