Title: Fake news, propaganda spread quickly on social media - The Daily Universe
Headings: Fake news, propaganda spread quickly on social media
Fake news, propaganda spread quickly on social media
‘Fake News’
Hackers and their influence
Voter manipulation

Content: In October, Twitter banned about 1,500 accounts created by right-wing internet trolls for spreading misinformation that midterm elections, to be held on Nov. 6, were on Nov. 7, according to The New York Times. The anonymity provided by the internet often causes people to act out in ways they might not in person, according to J. Reuben Clark Law School associate professor Stephanie Bair. This infographic provides information on some malicious social media accounts and tactics used to bully and mislead others. ( Sam Bigelow)
The accounts — dubbed NPCs after “non-playable characters” in video games — originated from alt-right Reddit and 4chan message boards. The fictional personas, according to the Times, were identified by gray cartoon faces and their penchant for imitating and mocking liberal rhetoric. Leading up to the Nov. 6 midterm elections, Facebook worked to block over 100 Facebook and Instagram troll accounts allegedly connected to the Russia-based Internet Research Agency, according to The New York Times. The group was indicted in February for attempting to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election through social media campaigns. Another element of social media manipulation includes trolling and cyberbullying. According to a study from the University of Southern California, Russia’s social media campaign leading up to the 2016 election involved heavy use of online bullying through bot accounts, trolls and sockpuppet accounts — or anonymous accounts used to hide the user’s true identity. According to the study, these tactics were primarily used to amplify extreme right-wing ideologies and politics, and 50.9 percent of these accounts imitated negative fan reactions to “Star Wars Episode VIII: