Repeat Spreaders and Election Delegitimization

Abstract

This paper introduces and presents a first analysis of a uniquely curated dataset of misinformation, disinformation, and rumors spreading on Twitter about the 2020 U.S. election. Previous research on misinformation—an umbrella term for false and misleading content—has largely focused either on broad categories, using a finite set of keywords to cover a complex topic, or on a few, focused case studies, with increased precision but limited scope. Our approach, by comparison, leverages real-time reports collected from September through November 2020 to develop a comprehensive dataset of tweets connected to 456 distinct misinformation stories from the 2020 U.S. election (our ElectionMisinfo2020 dataset), 307 of which sowed doubt in the legitimacy of the election. By relying on real-time incidents and streaming data, we generate a curated dataset that not only provides more granularity than a large collection based on a finite number of search terms, but also an improved opportunity for generalization compared to a small set of case studies. Though the emphasis is on misleading content, not all of the tweets linked to a misinformation story are false: some are questions, opinions, corrections, or factual content that nonetheless contributes to misperceptions. Along with a detailed description of the data, this paper provides an analysis of a critical subset of election-delegitimizing misinformation in terms of size, content, temporal diffusion, and partisanship. We label key ideological clusters of accounts within interaction networks, describe common misinformation narratives, and identify those accounts which repeatedly spread misinformation. We document the asymmetry of misinformation spread: accounts associated with support for President Biden shared stories in ElectionMisinfo2020 far less than accounts supporting his opponent. That asymmetry remained among the accounts who were repeatedly influential in the spread of misleading content that sowed doubt in the election: all but two of the top 100 ‘repeat spreader’ accounts were supporters of then-President Trump. These findings support the implementation and enforcement of ‘strike rules’ on social media platforms, directly addressing the outsized role of repeat spreaders.

Influence and Improvisation: Participatory Disinformation during the 2020 US Election

“…Of particular note is the role of mega influencer @char-liekirk11. Kirk is the founder and president of Turning Point USA, a conservative political organization and a "repeat spreader" of false and misleading claims of election fraud in 2020 (Kennedy et al, 2022). Between midnight and 17:00 UTC on 4 November, as the SharpieGate narrative began to gain steam, Kirk posted two SharpieGate related tweets-a quote tweet of Tweet 2a and a retweet of Tweet 2c.…”

“…Eventually the Sonoma Ballots narrative would reach the account of mega influencer Donald Trump Jr, President Trump’s son, who retweeted Schaffer’s original tweet about 10 hr after it was first posted. The verified account of @DonaldJTrumpJr, which had over 5.6 million followers at the time, was a noted “repeat spreader” of misleading voter fraud claims (Kennedy et al, 2022), often acting as an accelerant rather than a catalyst, amplifying and sustaining an already-viral claim.…”

How participatory propaganda operates through superusers: The effects of super commenters on Breitbart News

“…Then, we focused on the top 10 most prominent topics. Among those 10 topics, we identified three topics that -based on previous literature --highly likely contain conspiratorial, propagandist materials -they are "radical left" (Tripodi, 2018) 13 , "election fraud" (Kennedy et al, 2022), and the "deep state" (Benkler et al, 2018). 14 For comparison, we also selected "law and order," a topic that is more mainstream in conservative discourse.…”

“…The resulting widespread misbelief that the 2020 election was stolen led to the violent insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Among the "repeat spreaders" of misleading narratives that cast doubt on the election were many right-wing media outlets, including Breitbart, the Gateway Pundit, and many personalities from Fox News and Newsmax (Kennedy et al, 2022). Followed by millions of listeners, viewers, and readers, these media outlets function as a powerful propaganda machine for the MAGA movement and the Republican party (Benkler, Faris & Roberts, 2018).…”

Facebook’s News Feed Algorithm and the 2020 US Election

“…Many are thus concerned that platforms may be undermining democratic processes: in the United States, 73% of adults had “little or no confidence in tech companies to prevent the misuse of their platforms to influence the 2020 election” (Green, 2020). Given the widespread concern, urgency, and ambiguity surrounding the topic, researchers have devoted increasing attention toward understanding how platforms contribute to news audiences during elections (Edelson et al, 2021; Hecht et al, 2017; Kennedy et al, 2022; Mustafaraj et al, 2020).…”