SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
"The findings, from Jan. 9 through Friday," reports the Washington Post, "highlight how falsehoods flow across social media sites--reinforcing and amplifying each other--and offer an early indication of how concerted actions against misinformation can make a difference." (Image: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/cc)
'Talk About a Super Spreader': Analysis Finds Online Election Misinformation Fell by 73% After Trump Barred
After Trump's lies disappeared from Twitter and Facebook, the dissemination of falsehoods and the conversations based on them fell dramatically.
Jan 15, 2021
A new analysis of online misinformation released Saturday showed that false and wildly misleading content regarding the outcome of the 2020 presidential election was reduced by nearly three-fourths overall after President Donald Trump was barred from posting on major social media sites in the wake of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol building by his supporters.
The research firm Zignal Labs, as the Washington Post reports, calculated that conversations based on misinformation "plunged 73 percent after several social media sites suspended President Trump and key allies last week."
\u201cTalk about a super-spreader:\n\nMisinformation dropped 73% on Twitter the week after it banned Trump\n\nhttps://t.co/WswtStVSdK\u201d— Geoffrey A. Fowler (@Geoffrey A. Fowler) 1610821760
According to the Post:
The findings, from Jan. 9 through Friday, highlight how falsehoods flow across social media sites--reinforcing and amplifying each other--and offer an early indication of how concerted actions against misinformation can make a difference.
Twitter's ban of Trump on Jan. 8, after years in which @realDonaldTrump was a potent online megaphone, has been particularly significant in curbing his ability to push misleading claims about what state and federal officials have called a free and fair election on Nov. 3.
Trump's banishment was followed by other actions by social media sites, including Twitter's ban of more than 70,000 accounts affiliated with the baseless QAnon ideology, which played a key role in fomenting the Capitol siege on Jan. 6.
"Together, those actions will likely significantly reduce the amount of online misinformation in the near term," Kate Starbird, disinformation researcher at the University of Washington, told the Post. "What happens in the long term is still up in the air."
Writing for the media watchdog outlet Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) on Friday, journalist Alan MacLeod warned that even if Trump's current ban from prominent social media is justified, the fact that these platforms have such outsized power is a danger to free speech rights and democracy in the long run.
"It's difficult to argue that Trump did not repeatedly violate Twitter's rules against 'threaten[ing] violence' and 'glorification of violence,' justifying his ban," wrote MacLeod. "But we urgently need to rethink the power of these social media behemoths, because there are plenty of other examples where their enforcement of their rules has been arbitrary and non-transparent."
Why Your Ongoing Support Is Essential
Donald Trump’s attacks on democracy, justice, and a free press are escalating — putting everything we stand for at risk. We believe a better world is possible, but we can’t get there without your support. Common Dreams stands apart. We answer only to you — our readers, activists, and changemakers — not to billionaires or corporations. Our independence allows us to cover the vital stories that others won’t, spotlighting movements for peace, equality, and human rights. Right now, our work faces unprecedented challenges. Misinformation is spreading, journalists are under attack, and financial pressures are mounting. As a reader-supported, nonprofit newsroom, your support is crucial to keep this journalism alive. Whatever you can give — $10, $25, or $100 — helps us stay strong and responsive when the world needs us most. Together, we’ll continue to build the independent, courageous journalism our movement relies on. Thank you for being part of this community. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
A new analysis of online misinformation released Saturday showed that false and wildly misleading content regarding the outcome of the 2020 presidential election was reduced by nearly three-fourths overall after President Donald Trump was barred from posting on major social media sites in the wake of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol building by his supporters.
The research firm Zignal Labs, as the Washington Post reports, calculated that conversations based on misinformation "plunged 73 percent after several social media sites suspended President Trump and key allies last week."
\u201cTalk about a super-spreader:\n\nMisinformation dropped 73% on Twitter the week after it banned Trump\n\nhttps://t.co/WswtStVSdK\u201d— Geoffrey A. Fowler (@Geoffrey A. Fowler) 1610821760
According to the Post:
The findings, from Jan. 9 through Friday, highlight how falsehoods flow across social media sites--reinforcing and amplifying each other--and offer an early indication of how concerted actions against misinformation can make a difference.
Twitter's ban of Trump on Jan. 8, after years in which @realDonaldTrump was a potent online megaphone, has been particularly significant in curbing his ability to push misleading claims about what state and federal officials have called a free and fair election on Nov. 3.
Trump's banishment was followed by other actions by social media sites, including Twitter's ban of more than 70,000 accounts affiliated with the baseless QAnon ideology, which played a key role in fomenting the Capitol siege on Jan. 6.
"Together, those actions will likely significantly reduce the amount of online misinformation in the near term," Kate Starbird, disinformation researcher at the University of Washington, told the Post. "What happens in the long term is still up in the air."
Writing for the media watchdog outlet Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) on Friday, journalist Alan MacLeod warned that even if Trump's current ban from prominent social media is justified, the fact that these platforms have such outsized power is a danger to free speech rights and democracy in the long run.
"It's difficult to argue that Trump did not repeatedly violate Twitter's rules against 'threaten[ing] violence' and 'glorification of violence,' justifying his ban," wrote MacLeod. "But we urgently need to rethink the power of these social media behemoths, because there are plenty of other examples where their enforcement of their rules has been arbitrary and non-transparent."
A new analysis of online misinformation released Saturday showed that false and wildly misleading content regarding the outcome of the 2020 presidential election was reduced by nearly three-fourths overall after President Donald Trump was barred from posting on major social media sites in the wake of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol building by his supporters.
The research firm Zignal Labs, as the Washington Post reports, calculated that conversations based on misinformation "plunged 73 percent after several social media sites suspended President Trump and key allies last week."
\u201cTalk about a super-spreader:\n\nMisinformation dropped 73% on Twitter the week after it banned Trump\n\nhttps://t.co/WswtStVSdK\u201d— Geoffrey A. Fowler (@Geoffrey A. Fowler) 1610821760
According to the Post:
The findings, from Jan. 9 through Friday, highlight how falsehoods flow across social media sites--reinforcing and amplifying each other--and offer an early indication of how concerted actions against misinformation can make a difference.
Twitter's ban of Trump on Jan. 8, after years in which @realDonaldTrump was a potent online megaphone, has been particularly significant in curbing his ability to push misleading claims about what state and federal officials have called a free and fair election on Nov. 3.
Trump's banishment was followed by other actions by social media sites, including Twitter's ban of more than 70,000 accounts affiliated with the baseless QAnon ideology, which played a key role in fomenting the Capitol siege on Jan. 6.
"Together, those actions will likely significantly reduce the amount of online misinformation in the near term," Kate Starbird, disinformation researcher at the University of Washington, told the Post. "What happens in the long term is still up in the air."
Writing for the media watchdog outlet Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) on Friday, journalist Alan MacLeod warned that even if Trump's current ban from prominent social media is justified, the fact that these platforms have such outsized power is a danger to free speech rights and democracy in the long run.
"It's difficult to argue that Trump did not repeatedly violate Twitter's rules against 'threaten[ing] violence' and 'glorification of violence,' justifying his ban," wrote MacLeod. "But we urgently need to rethink the power of these social media behemoths, because there are plenty of other examples where their enforcement of their rules has been arbitrary and non-transparent."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.