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#JunkScience: Investigating pseudoscience disinformation in the Russian Internet Research Agency tweets
Indigo J Strudwicke1, Will J Grant1
1Australian National University, Australia.
Public Understanding of Science (Bristol, England)
|June 30, 2020
Summary
Russian troll tweets from the 2016 US election contained anti-vaccination content and other science topics. These tweets strategically emphasized climate change, Ebola, Zika, and vaccination for disinformation purposes.
Area of Science:
- Social Science
- Political Science
- Communication Studies
Background:
- Recent research identified anti-vaccination propaganda in Russian troll tweets linked to the 2016 US Presidential election.
- This study investigates the broader spectrum of science-related content within these tweets.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if Russian troll tweets containing vaccination content also included other science topics.
- To identify if pseudo or anti-science messages were prevalent alongside vaccination content.
- To analyze the strategic use of science topics for disinformation.
Main Methods:
- Content analysis of Russian troll tweets from the 2016 US election period.
- Comparative analysis of tweet frequency for various science topics (vaccination, climate change, GMOs, Ebola, flat Earth beliefs, Zika) against background rates.
- Identification of emphasized versus camouflage content.
Main Results:
- Vaccination, climate change, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), Ebola, flat Earth beliefs, and Zika were found in the Russian tweets.
- GMOs and flat Earth beliefs were used as camouflage content, tweeted at similar rates to other users.
- Climate change, Ebola, Zika, and vaccination content were emphasized beyond background rates, indicating strategic disinformation.
Conclusions:
- Russian troll activity extended beyond anti-vaccination messages to include a range of science topics.
- Certain science topics were strategically amplified to serve disinformation objectives.
- The findings highlight the use of science-related content in coordinated influence operations.
Keywords:
climate changedisinformationinternational politicsrepresentations of sciencescience attitudes and perceptionssocial mediaMore Related Videos
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