One of the research A study conducted by the Cybersecurity for Democracy department at New York University (NYU) analyzed reactions to posts made between August 10, 2020 and January 11, 2021, a period comprising the run-up to Biden's election and the days following the attack on the Capitol. It concluded that far-right content had greater engagement on Facebook during the US elections.
In total, 8,6 million posts shared by 2973 news and disinformation sources were investigated, divided by their position on the political spectrum. Far-right pages had the most engagement, with fake news content having the highest rates, reaching 426 reactions (likes, comments or shares) for every thousand followers.
In contrast, posts linked to the left or far left had a high reaction rate to news. This indicates the impact of social media and fake news on the American elections. Regarding the number of reactions to false content and misinformation, researcher Laura Edelson from NYU spoke to CNN that “this is remarkably dangerous for a tool that uses engagement as a way to measure what should be boosted or not.”
Facebook and votes
Another point raised by the research by the Cybersecurity for Democracy department (NYU) is that Facebook actually took a position in favor of the extreme right in the elections. The study also showed that the social network's measures to contain the spread of misinformation were not very effective.
This data corroborates the indication of the political leanings assumed by Zuckerberg's company. This is reflected in the fact that Facebook was aware of the growth of the extreme right months before the attack on Capitol. The information also matches another study which showed how changes to the network feed could have an effect on the US Senate election.
Through which channels you reach those people, classic and out of the box. The Verge
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