© John Ellswick/AP
Facebook and Instagram ads linked to 'Russian effort to disrupt the US political process' and interfere in the 2016 US elections - released by members of US House Intelligence Committee.
Facebook and Instagram ads linked to 'Russian effort to disrupt the US political process' and interfere in the 2016 US elections - released by members of US House Intelligence Committee.
Including U.S. government programs aimed at countering extremists such as Islamic fundamentalists, about $500 million has been spent worldwide on research, development or implementation of social media "psychological operations" since 2010, the authors estimated.
"The manipulation of public opinion over social media platforms has emerged as a critical threat to public life," the researchers wrote. They warned that, at a time when news consumption is increasingly occurring over the Internet, this trend threatens "to undermine trust in the media, public institutions and science." In an earlier analysis covering 2016, the researchers found governments and political parties had deployed social media to manipulate the public in 28 countries.
Comment: Would any of those ads change your mind? FYI: To review the Oxford study, go here.