Far-right news sources on Facebook more engaging

Unlike other news across the political spectrum, no “misinformation penalty” for far-right pages

Methodology

Engagement on Facebook and Instagram with far-right news sources was particularly pronounced on Election Day and again on January 6, the day of the U.S. Capitol riot.

Analysis reveals more engagement with extreme content

Far-right and Far-left news sources peaked on key dates; less intense for other news sites

Far-right news sources suffer no “misinformation penalty”

For far-right news sources, misinformation significantly outperforms non-misinformation; for all other political leanings, there is a misinformation penalty resulting in lower engagement per follower.

Directions for future research

More methodological notes

Harmonized ratings for news source content used in our analysis, based on NewsGuard and Media Bias Fact Check ratings
Harmonized ratings for news source content used in our analysis, based on NewsGuard and Media Bias Fact Check ratings.

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Cybersecurity for Democracy (cybersecurityfordemocracy.org) is a research-based effort to expose online threats to our social fabric — and recommend how to counter them. We are part of the Center for Cybersecurity at NYU.

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Cybersecurity for Democracy

Cybersecurity for Democracy is a research-based effort to expose online threats to our social fabric. We are part of the Center for Cybersecurity at NYU.