Fake News from Home: How Americans Use Social Media Tricks

Recent research from the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) has found that Americans are using social media in a sneaky way. They're creating and using groups of accounts that act like bots to spread lies quickly. Examples include the false story about the attempt to assassinate Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, and a made-up tale about Haitian migrants stealing and eating pets in Ohio. Both stories were spread in a similar way, using what researchers call "coordinated, inauthentic behavior. " This means people were working together to make these lies seem real. While we often hear about other countries, like Russia or China, using such tricks, Americans are now doing it too. Joel Finkelstein, a co-founder of NCRI, warns that this is a worrying trend. He says there are tens of thousands of people who are ready to spread these falsehoods. They're amplifying certain ideas, not just confusing posts from bots. Many are real people, but they're behaving in ways that boost the spread of these narratives. The report found that pro-Democratic activists using #BlueCrew helped spread the fake story about Trump being shot in Butler. Similarly, pro-Trump accounts spread the pet-eating lie. These accounts share identical posts and use the same hashtags to influence trending topics. They also promote each other's accounts and encourage others to follow them back. NCRI's online surveys showed that 21% of Americans believe the pet-eating story, and 30% think the shooting attempt was staged. This shows how powerful these coordinated actions can be. These accounts create a cycle where false beliefs are reinforced, making genuine conversations harder. Just this week, accounts linked to #BlueCrew started spreading another false tale about House Speaker Mike Johnson not certifying the election if Kamala Harris wins. This fake news was reposted and viewed millions of times. It's clear that a small number of orchestrated accounts can have a big impact on what people see and believe.