Does Fake News Interfere with Election Outcome?

Name Institutional Affiliation Course Title/Code Instructor Date Fake News Research Paper: With Social Media Serving as a Platform to Spread Disinformation, Does Fake News Interfere with Election Outcomes? OUTLINE THESIS: Studies indicate that presidential candidates can use journalists and social media platforms to spread fake news and disinformation in touting their opponents to earn political mileage, sway voters, and ultimately interfere with election processes thus denying voters their democratic will. 1 While social media networks remain an important source of information among electors, it is a powerful tool to spread highly biased fake news (Allcot & Gentzkow 211). * 14 percent of Americans rely on social media as the “most important” source of election news (Allcott & Gentzkow 211) * An average American saw at least one or several fake news in the month before the 2016 elections * People tend to believe stories favouring their preferred candidates, particular in ideologically divided social media networks * Tweets and posts on other social media networks spread at a fast rate, making it easier to spread fake news (Maheshwari np) 2 A massive amount of evidence shows that presidential candidates and their political parties and supporters use fakes news to spread disinformation through social media platforms * In Nigeria, a close President Buhari’s aide has been criticized for repeatedly using his verified Twitter account to share false information (Busari np). * During the 2016 U.S. presidential campaigns, ...