Junk news dominating coverage of US midterms on social media

Twenty-five per cent of content shared around US midterms is junk news, despite efforts by social media platforms to curb the problem. Social media is now a vital platform for news consumption in the United States, particularly during important moments in political life such as elections, according to new Oxford University research. A significant portion of US adults turn to social media platforms for news content. Given the importance of social media as a news channel, these platforms have become regular targets for coordinated efforts to spread misinformation and junk news with the aim of influencing voters. Researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, have discovered that the problem of junk news on Twitter and Facebook has become significantly worse in the lead-up to the US midterm elections, taking place on 6 November 2018. "The proportion of junk news in circulation has grown by 5 percentage points since the 2016 presidential elections," says Professor Phil Howard, lead researcher on Oxford's Computational Propaganda project. "We're a little surprised by this finding.