Methodological Challenges to Studying Misinformation and Disinformation in Data-Driven Politics: Fake News, Bots, and Digital Campaigns

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

We strive to address enduring concerns in political communication that have taken on a new urgency due to recent technological changes: misinformation and disinformation.
In light of Russia’s use of Facebook and Twitter in the 2016 US election campaign, the exponential growth of fake news, automated messages by bots, and misguided, unidentifiable campaign ads on social media have sparked grave public concerns. The rapid evolution of communication technology has made contemporary methods of spreading misinformation and disinformation fundamentally different from past approaches. The emerging trends in contemporary information devices—fake news, bots, and campaign ads—pose tremendous challenges to studying misinformation and disinformation. This panel aims to discuss these methodological challenges and offer insight into overcoming challenges when conducting research on misinformation and disinformation.

Sub Unit

• Political Communication

Chair

• Young Mie Kim, U of Wisconsin-Madison

Individual Presentations

• Studying Media Cultures By Proxy: Big Data and Algorithmic Assessment of Public Attitudes About Journalism - Mark Princi Hannah, New York U IPK; Sebastian Benthall, Cornell Tech

• A Critical Analysis of Bot Detection Methodologies - Robert Gorwa, University of Oxford; Bence Kollanyi, Oxford U; Douglas Richard Guilbeault, The Annenberg School for Communication at the U of Pennsylvania; Philip N Howard, Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford University

• Tracking Political Ads by "Suspicious" Organizations on Facebook - Young Mie Kim, U of Wisconsin-Madison

• Social Bots in Germany’s 2017 National Election Campaign: Theoretical, Empirical and Methodological Implications - Tobias R. Keller, U of Zurich; Ulrike Klinger, Free University of Berlin

Respondent

• Philip N Howard, Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford University