Impact of Twitter's Account Suspensions on Curbing Misinformation Following Capitol Riots

10min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

The chapter delves into the aftermath of the Capitol riots and the role of social media, particularly Twitter, in spreading misinformation. Researchers analyzed the effects of Twitter suspending 70,000 accounts for spreading election misinformation and found a significant reduction in misinformation sharing. The chapter also raises concerns about the effectiveness of social media interventions and highlights ongoing debates on balancing user protection and free speech.

In this episode:

00:46 Making a molecular Bose-Einstein condensate

For the first time, researchers have coaxed molecules into a bizarre form of matter called a Bose-Einstein condensate, in which they all act in a single gigantic quantum state. While condensates have been made using atoms for decades, the complex interactions of molecules have prevented them from being cooled into this state. Now, a team has successfully made a Bose-Einstein condensate using molecules made of caesium and sodium atoms, which they hope will allow them to answer more questions about the quantum world, and could potentially form the basis of a new kind of quantum computer.

Research article: Bigagli et al.

News: Physicists coax molecules into exotic quantum state — ending decades-long quest

9:57 How deplatforming affects the spread of social media misinformation

The storming of the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 resulted in the social media platform Twitter (now X) rapidly deplatforming 70,000 users deemed to be sharers of misinformation. To evaluate the effect of this intervention, researchers analysed the activity of over 500,000 Twitter users, showing that it reduced the sharing of misinformation, both from the deplatformed users and from those who followed them. Results also suggest that other misinformation traffickers who were not deplatformed left Twitter following the intervention. Together these results show that social media platforms can curb misinformation sharing, although a greater understanding of the efficacy of these actions in different contexts is required.

Research article: McCabe et al.

Editorial: What we do — and don’t — know about how misinformation spreads online

Comment: Misinformation poses a bigger threat to democracy than you might think