Facebook
Election misinformation has run rampant in the wake of the November 3 United States presidential election, and the sitting president is reportedly most responsible for its spread.
That's according to a new report compiled by the global human rights group Avaaz, which pointed to President Trump as the number one Facebook user who's most responsible for spreading election misinformation.
His son, Donald Trump Jr., is a few spots below in the top five, among conservative commentators like Dan Bongino, Diamond and Silk, and Mark Levin, according to Avaaz data reported by the New York Times.
Moreover, the top 25 accounts in the group's report were said to be responsible for over 25% of all voter fraud misinformation. Despite repeated claims of voter fraud in the recent presidential election, and a gaggle of legal cases brought by the Trump campaign aimed at overturning election results in various US states, there has been no evidence proving those claims.
Following the presidential election on November 3, results were still coming in for days.
Insider and Decision Desk HQ projected President-elect Joe Biden as the winner on Friday, November 6, with most other mainstream outlets projecting the same outcome the following morning.
But for President Trump, who refuses to concede the loss despite several contested states certifying their election results and the head of the General Services Administration approving the funding necessary for President-elect Biden's transition to proceed, the weeks following the election involved pushing unsubstantiated assertions that the election was "the most corrupt election in American political history."
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all warn users that the post they're seeing may contain misinformation — but that doesn't stop it from being engaged with and shared by millions.
Avaaz data shared with the Times showed that the top 25 "superspreaders" of misinformation were responsible for over 75 million likes, shares, and comments on Facebook.
Got a tip? Contact Business Insider senior correspondent Ben Gilbert via email (bgilbert@businessinsider.com), or Twitter DM (@realbengilbert). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by email only, please.
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See Also:
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- Republicans will continue to cherry-pick examples of anti-conservative bias at Facebook and Twitter — but right-wing misinformation breaks more rules online
- The life and career of Tony West, the Uber executive married to Kamala Harris' sister, and who may be in the running for a role in the Biden administration
SEE ALSO: Republicans sold out democracy to appease Trump's loser tantrum
