Far-left and far-right misinformation on Facebook gets six times more likes and shares than factual posts, a study of thousands of pages has revealed - after the social media giant banned the researchers from the platform. The peer-reviewed study by researchers at New York University and the Université Grenoble Alpes in France combed through 2,551 Facebook pages from August 2020 to January 2021. The NYU researchers found that 40 percent of far-right sources and 10 percent of center or left-leaning sources promote misinformation. 'This report looks mostly at how people engage with content, which should not be confused with how many people actually see it on Facebook,' said Facebook spokesman Joe Osborne. During the 2016 election, Facebook seriously considered removing then-candidate Donald Trump's video calling for a Muslim ban, according to the New York Times.

Source: Daily Mail September 06, 2021 19:07 UTC