US midterms: How BBC’s voter profiles were shown hate and disinformation online

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When it comes to obtaining power anything goes.

Disinformation and Social Media correspondent Marianna Spring set up a series of social media accounts to investigate what voters are being recommended online at a turbulent time for US politics. After over two months of running the profiles, this is what she found.

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I open up Britney’s Instagram and click on an account that’s been recommended in her feed. I’m greeted by a meme falsely declaring that President Joe Biden never really won the 2020 election, and several others targeting named female politicians with misogynistic comments and abusive language.

Britney is one of five profiles I’ve created to track what US voters can be recommended and exposed to online ahead of the midterm elections. While social media sites say they are committed to tackling disinformation and hate on their platforms ahead of the poll, for my undercover voters, misleading and violent posts appear to have only increased in recent weeks.”

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63530374