By: Jonathan Walter
Following the 2016 presidential election, there was widespread criticism of social media networks for allowing trolls and bots to shape discourse[1], as well as creating political “echo chambers.”[2] Initially, Facebook denied that this was taking place and refused to acknowledge its role as a news source.[3] This critique only intensified as more information about the extent of the problems came to light. Twitter revealed that millions of tweets came from “highly automated accounts,”[4] while Facebook disclosed that roughly 3,000 ads had been purchased by “inauthentic accounts” that were “likely operated out of Russia.[5] Everything came to a head in September of 2018, when executives from Facebook and Twitter went to Congress for hearings regarding election interference and were grilled by Senators about how they planned to fight bots and “deep fakes.”[6]
However, the 2018 midterm elections have been a different story, and it’s clear that Facebook and Twitter, among others, have learned a lesson. While these problems have not gone away[7], there was generally less criticism after the midterm elections than the presidential election in 2016. This year, Facebook removed 30 Facebook accounts and 85 Instagram account in an attempt to prevent foreign influence on the day of election,[8] and another 800 pages and accounts in the weeks leading up to election day.[9] Similarly, Twitter removed over 10,000 bot accounts that were posting messages discouraging people from voting in the months leading up to election day.[10] Further, Facebook set up a “war room” at its Menlo Park headquarters “to look for and stop election interference in ‘real time.’”[11]
On top of the additional oversight, social media networks have stepped up their get-out-the-vote efforts. For example, Twitter added election labels to candidates’ profiles, live streamed debates, launched the #BeAVoter campaign, and added an Election Day countdown to users’ home timelines that provided information about the user’s polling place and ballot.[12] Similarly, Facebook released a new “Candidate Info” tool to help people learn more about their local candidates through short videos. Even social media services like Snapchat and Instagram have attempted to cultivate goodwill with the general public by helping users register to vote.[13]
Despite these efforts, and their general positive reception, it is important to reiterate that these problems have not gone away.[14] Although social media sites are doing their due diligence, there is actually some evidence that the problem may be getting worse. Facebook is still plagued with large scale misinformation campaigns[15] and researchers at Oxford University found that Twitter had five percent more false content this year than during the 2016 presidential election.[16] Even Twitter’s new page, focused on midterm elections, picked up tweets from conspiracy theorists, people pushing disinformation, and bot accounts.[17] The problem that these social media platforms are going to be trying to solve in the future isn’t fake news and Russian bots, it is more of a misinformation problem. This is very much an old problem that is taking a new form and will require more than just the right algorithm.[18]
All of that being said, there is no denying the fact that progress was made between the 2016 presidential election and the 2018 midterm election. Both Facebook and Twitter acknowledged the mistakes that they made and took positive steps to correct them. We can only hope that they continue to improve as the 2020 presidential election becomes more of a reality.
[1]See Tom McCarthy, How Russia Used Social Media to Divide Americans,The Guardian, Oct. 14, 2017,https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/14/russia-us-politics-social-media-facebook.
[2]See Mostafa M. El-Bermawy, Your Filter Bubble is Destroying Democracy,Wired, Nov. 18, 2016, https://www.wired.com/2016/11/filter-bubble-destroying-democracy/.
[3]See Id.
[4]Jon Fingas, Twitter Bots were Rampant During the US Election, Engadget, Nov. 20, 2016, https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/20/twitter-bots-rampant-during-election/.
[5]Margaret Hartmann, Facebook Haunted by Its Handling of 2016 Election Meddling, N.Y. Mag: Intelligencer, Mar. 20, 2018, http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/03/facebook-haunted-by-its-handling-of-2016-election-meddling.html?gtm=bottom>m=bottom.
[6]See Adi Robertson & Casey Newton, The 7 Biggest Moments from Wednesday’s Social Media Hearings, The Verge, Sep. 5, 2018, https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/5/17823280/facebook-twitter-hearings-congress-jack-dorsey-sheryl-sandberg.
[7]See Ali Breland, Social Media Companies Grapple with New Form of Political Misinformation, The Hill, Nov. 11, 2018, https://thehill.com/policy/technology/416062-social-media-companies-grapple-with-new-forms-of-political-misinformation.
[8]Don Reisinger, Facebook Removed 115 Accounts in the Run-Up to the Midterm Elections, Fortune, Nov. 6, 2018,http://fortune.com/2018/11/06/facebook-midterm-elections-accounts/.
[9]See Elizabeth Dwoskin & Tony Romm, Facebook Purged Over 800 U.S. Account and Pages for Pushing Political Spam, Washington Post, Oct. 11, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/10/11/facebook-purged-over-accounts-pages-pushing-political-messages-profit/?utm_term=.5cfa00b0ab05.
[10]Todd Spangler, Midterm Elections: Are Facebook, Twitter Doing Enough to Stop Misinformation and Fraud?, Variety, Nov. 4, 2018, https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/midterm-elections-facebook-twitter-misinformation-ad-fraud-1203018538/.
[11]Id.
[12]See Bridget Coyne, Five Days Until #ElectionDay 2018, Twitter Blog, Nov. 1, 2018, https://blog.twitter.com/official/en_us/topics/company/2018/five-days-until-electionday-2018.html.
[13]See Cecilia Kang, Snapchat Helped Register Over 400,000 Voters, N.Y. Times, Oct. 23, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/23/technology/snapchat-voter-registration-midterms.html.
[14]See Kevin Roose, Facebook Thwarter Chaos on Election Day. It’s Hardly Clear That Will Last., N.Y. Times, Nov. 7, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/07/business/facebook-midterms-misinformation.html.
[15]Id.
[16]Kate Conger & Adam Satariano, Twitter Says It Is Ready for the Midterms but Rogue Accounts Aren’t Letting Up, N.Y. Times, Nov. 5, 2018,https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/05/technology/twitter-fake-news-midterm-elections.html.
[17]Mallory Locklear, Twitter’s New Midterm Election Page Already Includes Fake News, Engadget, Oct. 30, 2018,https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/30/twitter-midterm-election-page-includes-fake-news/.
[18]See Max Read, Facebook Stopped Russia. Is That Enough?N.Y. Mag: Intelligencer,Nov. 8, 2018, http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/fake-news-on-facebook-in-the-2018-midterms.html.
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