Study: Conservatives amplified Russian trolls 30 times more often than liberals in 2016

Conservatives were much more likely than liberals to retweet Russian trolls in the 2016 election, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Southern California released this month. It traced Russian efforts to influence America’s 2016 presidential campaign via Twitter using 45 million election-related tweets generated by 5.7 million users in a one-month period ahead of the election; researchers delved into what information was spread by trolls, who spread it, and how many times those tweets were shared. The study focused on content from the 2,752 now-deactivated Russian troll accounts identified by Congress in November.

The USC researchers found that conservatives retweeted Russian trolls about 31 times more often than liberals and produced 36 times more tweets. CONT.

Emily Stewart, Vox