Donald Trump's election-related tweets have been censored and tagged on Twitter. However, they are spreading.
On the eve of and after the 2020 presidential election, Twitter censored and reported on some of Donald Trump's allegations of falsified election results.
However, the tweets were broadcast on and off Twitter.
That's according to a new study published Tuesday in the Harvard Kennedy Disinformation Review and provided exclusively to the United States TODAY by academics at New York University.
The study raises concerns about the ability of social media to stop the spread of false information on major platforms during election seasons.
Trump's tweets with fact-check tags spread faster on Twitter than without, according to researchers at New York University. When Twitter stopped allowing people to chat with the former president's tweets, they moved on to Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit, where they became more popular than tweets categorized by Twitter or not tagged at all.
It is not clear whether Twitter interfered with social media posts that were more likely to spread, or whether the action itself contributed to the increase in the number of tweets, the researchers said.
However, they argue that their research demonstrates how destructive disinformation can move from platform to platform due to the lack of collaboration between social media companies.
Megan Brown, a research engineer at the Center for Social Media and Policy at New York University, said: "Misinformation that stops on one platform doesn't stop it on another."
According to Zeve Sanderson, executive director of the NYU Center, Trump's tweets were blocked on Twitter, but they appeared on Facebook as links, quotes and screenshots, where they received an average of over 300,000. likes.
According to Joshua Tucker, co-director of the center, “The political actors who try to promote storytelling on the Internet are not limited to working on a single platform.
“We live in a multiplatform world where people try to control the information environment and control the political information environment,” Tucker explained. "Currently, the only way to work with content is platform by platform."
Twitter said in a statement that it has taken numerous steps to restrict participation in tweets that break its rules.
“With election talks at an all time high, it was vital that we take swift enforcement action on deceptive content that could harm offline,” the company said.
Between October 27 and November 11, Twitter flagged 300,000 tweets as controversial or potentially misleading, resulting in a 29% drop in cited tweets.
“We continue to research, challenge and modify features on Twitter that may facilitate or encourage behavior damaging to the health of online or offline communication,” the company said.
Twitter's most notable involvement came in the final days of Trump's presidency, when it banned Trump for good after the events of January. 6 Attack on Capitol Hill, raising sensitive concerns about free speech and censorship of social media.
At the time, Trump had 88.7 million followers and an impressive number of retweets, giving him an almost unprecedented impact on the national debate.
After his supporters stormed the Capitol to prevent Congress from witnessing Joe Biden's victory as president, the country's three major social media platforms - Facebook, Google YouTube and Twitter - banned Trump by fear that it will cause further violence.
YouTube said the suspension would be lifted after the "risk of violence" disappeared. Facebook said in June that Trump would not be able to access his accounts until 2023. Even if Trump runs for president in 2024 and wins, Twitter has said he will not be reinstated.
Trump criticized social media companies for reporting, restricting or deleting his tweets containing false information about election results.
In July, Trump filed a lawsuit alleging that Facebook, Google and Twitter, along with their executives, had violated his First Amendment rights.
Hundreds of states are studying laws to determine how social media platforms control speech in response to conservative backlash. A federal judge has temporarily suspended consideration of a bill passed in Florida.
Another in Texas won the necessary votes in a special session of the Republican-controlled legislature, but has remained in limbo since Democrats left state for Washington to protest GOP pressure to change the state electoral system.
Researchers at New York University focused on Trump's tweets "because there is evidence that he was the primary vehicle for spreading election-related disinformation."
They viewed tweets tagged by Twitter from November 1, 2020 to January 8, 2021.
Researchers found that blocking engagement with Trump's tweets slowed their dissemination on Twitter, but not elsewhere. The tweets were shared more often and received more attention on other social networks.
Researchers found that when Twitter added a warning tag to Trump's tweets, they became more popular than his tweets without him.
The discovery doesn't necessarily mean the warning labels failed or triggered the Streisand effect, which occurs when an attempt to hide or remove information draws more attention to it, Sanderson said. . Perhaps the most common were tweets categorized by Twitter.
"Going forward, especially in light of the ongoing pandemic and the upcoming midterm elections in 2022, it will be critical that platforms coordinate in one way or another, if possible, to limit the spread of disinformation, ”Brown added.
However, the tweets were broadcast on and off Twitter.
That's according to a new study published Tuesday in the Harvard Kennedy Disinformation Review and provided exclusively to the United States TODAY by academics at New York University.
The study raises concerns about the ability of social media to stop the spread of false information on major platforms during election seasons.
Trump's tweets with fact-check tags spread faster on Twitter than without, according to researchers at New York University. When Twitter stopped allowing people to chat with the former president's tweets, they moved on to Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit, where they became more popular than tweets categorized by Twitter or not tagged at all.
It is not clear whether Twitter interfered with social media posts that were more likely to spread, or whether the action itself contributed to the increase in the number of tweets, the researchers said.
However, they argue that their research demonstrates how destructive disinformation can move from platform to platform due to the lack of collaboration between social media companies.
Megan Brown, a research engineer at the Center for Social Media and Policy at New York University, said: "Misinformation that stops on one platform doesn't stop it on another."
According to Zeve Sanderson, executive director of the NYU Center, Trump's tweets were blocked on Twitter, but they appeared on Facebook as links, quotes and screenshots, where they received an average of over 300,000. likes.
According to Joshua Tucker, co-director of the center, “The political actors who try to promote storytelling on the Internet are not limited to working on a single platform.
“We live in a multiplatform world where people try to control the information environment and control the political information environment,” Tucker explained. "Currently, the only way to work with content is platform by platform."
Twitter said in a statement that it has taken numerous steps to restrict participation in tweets that break its rules.
“With election talks at an all time high, it was vital that we take swift enforcement action on deceptive content that could harm offline,” the company said.
Between October 27 and November 11, Twitter flagged 300,000 tweets as controversial or potentially misleading, resulting in a 29% drop in cited tweets.
“We continue to research, challenge and modify features on Twitter that may facilitate or encourage behavior damaging to the health of online or offline communication,” the company said.
Twitter's most notable involvement came in the final days of Trump's presidency, when it banned Trump for good after the events of January. 6 Attack on Capitol Hill, raising sensitive concerns about free speech and censorship of social media.
At the time, Trump had 88.7 million followers and an impressive number of retweets, giving him an almost unprecedented impact on the national debate.
After his supporters stormed the Capitol to prevent Congress from witnessing Joe Biden's victory as president, the country's three major social media platforms - Facebook, Google YouTube and Twitter - banned Trump by fear that it will cause further violence.
YouTube said the suspension would be lifted after the "risk of violence" disappeared. Facebook said in June that Trump would not be able to access his accounts until 2023. Even if Trump runs for president in 2024 and wins, Twitter has said he will not be reinstated.
Trump criticized social media companies for reporting, restricting or deleting his tweets containing false information about election results.
In July, Trump filed a lawsuit alleging that Facebook, Google and Twitter, along with their executives, had violated his First Amendment rights.
Hundreds of states are studying laws to determine how social media platforms control speech in response to conservative backlash. A federal judge has temporarily suspended consideration of a bill passed in Florida.
Another in Texas won the necessary votes in a special session of the Republican-controlled legislature, but has remained in limbo since Democrats left state for Washington to protest GOP pressure to change the state electoral system.
Researchers at New York University focused on Trump's tweets "because there is evidence that he was the primary vehicle for spreading election-related disinformation."
They viewed tweets tagged by Twitter from November 1, 2020 to January 8, 2021.
Researchers found that blocking engagement with Trump's tweets slowed their dissemination on Twitter, but not elsewhere. The tweets were shared more often and received more attention on other social networks.
Researchers found that when Twitter added a warning tag to Trump's tweets, they became more popular than his tweets without him.
The discovery doesn't necessarily mean the warning labels failed or triggered the Streisand effect, which occurs when an attempt to hide or remove information draws more attention to it, Sanderson said. . Perhaps the most common were tweets categorized by Twitter.
"Going forward, especially in light of the ongoing pandemic and the upcoming midterm elections in 2022, it will be critical that platforms coordinate in one way or another, if possible, to limit the spread of disinformation, ”Brown added.
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