Press: How fringe candidates use misinformation to gain outsized online influence

Social media allows some fringe candidates to gain online reach they wouldn’t otherwise have.

“These types of figures know how to get audience attention, so [they] rely on mechanisms like social media to gain attention,” said Aliaksandr Herasimenka, a researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute who investigates how political groups use social media to manipulate. “They provide new opportunities for new figures as they overcome traditional gatekeepers quicker and reach attention faster.”

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