Disinformation creep: ADOS and the strategic weapon-ization of breaking news

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: In this essay, we conduct a descriptive content analysis from a sample of a dataset made up of 534 thousand scraped tweets, supplemented with access to 1.36 million tweets from the Twitter fire-hose, from accounts that used the #ADOS hashtag between November 2019 and September 2020. ADOS is an acronym for American Descendants of Slavery, a largely online group that operates within Black online communities. We find that the ADOS network strategically uses breaking news events to encourage discourage Black voters from voting for the Democratic party, a phenomenon we call disinformation creep. Conversely, the ADOS network has remained largely silent about the impact of the novel coronavirus on Black communities, undermining its claims that it works in the interests of Black Americans.

Source: Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review

DOI: 10.37016/mr-2020-52

Authors: Mutale Nkonde, Maria Y. Rodriguez, Leonard Cortana, Joan K. Mukogosi, Shakira King, Ray Serrato, Natalie Martinez, Mary Drummer, Ann Lewis, Momin M. Malik

Institutions: Columbia University, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, New York University

Language: English

Topic: Misinformation and Its Impacts

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: diamond

OpenAlex ID: W3124591688

FWCI: 3.928

Cites: 29

Cited by: 17

Related to: 10