There is more phony political news on social media now than in 2016, report says

There’s even more phony or misleading political news circulating on social media than there was in 2016, according to a new University of Oxford report that casts doubt on tech companies’ attempts to crack down on disinformation ahead of the midterms. The report also found that social media users were more apt to share “junk news” than what researchers considered “professional content,” which includes news from established media outlets and information from the government, academics or political candidates. What’s more, the report concluded that the kind of junk news once relatively contained to people on the far right is now being readily shared by mainstream political conservatives. With less than a week remaining before the midterms, the research suggests the efforts that Facebook, Twitter and other companies have taken to suppress disinformation may be too little, too late. Lawmakers have made it clear that if technology companies are unable to police their platforms and address the spread of false or phony information that could influence the democratic process, they may pursue regulation.