Fake news on Twitter during the 2016 U.S. presidential election

There was a proliferation of fake news during the 2016 election cycle. Grinberg et al. analyzed Twitter data by matching Twitter accounts to specific voters to determine who was exposed to fake news, who spread fake news, and how fake news interacted with factual news. Fake news accounted for nearly 6% of all news consumption, but it was heavily concentrated—only 1% of users were exposed to 80% of fake news, and 0.1% of users were responsible for sharing 80% of fake news. Individuals most likely to engage with fake news sources were conservative leaning, older, and highly engaged with political news.


Fake news on Twitter during the 2016 U.S. presidential election