Transnational Network Dynamics of Problematic Information Diffusion

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Villa-Turek, Esteban, Abhari, Rod, Nisbet, Erik C., Xu, Yu, Lokmanoglu, Ayse Deniz
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Villa-Turek, Esteban
Abhari, Rod
Nisbet, Erik C.
Xu, Yu
Lokmanoglu, Ayse Deniz
author_facet Villa-Turek, Esteban
Abhari, Rod
Nisbet, Erik C.
Xu, Yu
Lokmanoglu, Ayse Deniz
contents This study maps the spread of two cases of COVID-19 conspiracy theories and misinformation in Spanish and French in Latin American and French-speaking communities on Facebook, and thus contributes to understanding the dynamics, reach and consequences of emerging transnational misinformation networks. The findings show that co-sharing behavior of public Facebook groups created transnational networks by sharing videos of Medicos por la Verdad (MPV) conspiracy theories in Spanish and hydroxychloroquine-related misinformation sparked by microbiologist Didier Raoult (DR) in French, usually igniting the surge of locally led interest groups across the Global South. Using inferential methods, the study shows how these networks are enabled primarily by shared cultural and thematic attributes among Facebook groups, effectively creating very large, networked audiences. The study contributes to the understanding of how potentially harmful conspiracy theories and misinformation transcend national borders through non-English speaking online communities, further highlighting the overlooked role of transnationalism in global misinformation diffusion and the potentially disproportionate harm that it causes in vulnerable communities across the globe.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2404_01467
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Transnational Network Dynamics of Problematic Information Diffusion
Villa-Turek, Esteban
Abhari, Rod
Nisbet, Erik C.
Xu, Yu
Lokmanoglu, Ayse Deniz
Social and Information Networks
Physics and Society
Applications
This study maps the spread of two cases of COVID-19 conspiracy theories and misinformation in Spanish and French in Latin American and French-speaking communities on Facebook, and thus contributes to understanding the dynamics, reach and consequences of emerging transnational misinformation networks. The findings show that co-sharing behavior of public Facebook groups created transnational networks by sharing videos of Medicos por la Verdad (MPV) conspiracy theories in Spanish and hydroxychloroquine-related misinformation sparked by microbiologist Didier Raoult (DR) in French, usually igniting the surge of locally led interest groups across the Global South. Using inferential methods, the study shows how these networks are enabled primarily by shared cultural and thematic attributes among Facebook groups, effectively creating very large, networked audiences. The study contributes to the understanding of how potentially harmful conspiracy theories and misinformation transcend national borders through non-English speaking online communities, further highlighting the overlooked role of transnationalism in global misinformation diffusion and the potentially disproportionate harm that it causes in vulnerable communities across the globe.
title Transnational Network Dynamics of Problematic Information Diffusion
topic Social and Information Networks
Physics and Society
Applications
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.01467