Investigating Italian disinformation spreading on Twitter in the context of 2019 European elections.
We investigate the presence (and the influence) of disinformation spreading on online social networks in Italy, in the 5-month period preceding the 2019 European Parliament elections. To this aim we collected a large-scale dataset of tweets associated to thousands of news articles published on Itali...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2020-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227821 |
| _version_ | 1819021793179992064 |
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| author | Francesco Pierri Alessandro Artoni Stefano Ceri |
| author_facet | Francesco Pierri Alessandro Artoni Stefano Ceri |
| author_sort | Francesco Pierri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We investigate the presence (and the influence) of disinformation spreading on online social networks in Italy, in the 5-month period preceding the 2019 European Parliament elections. To this aim we collected a large-scale dataset of tweets associated to thousands of news articles published on Italian disinformation websites. In the observation period, a few outlets accounted for most of the deceptive information circulating on Twitter, which focused on controversial and polarizing topics of debate such as immigration, national safety and (Italian) nationalism. We found evidence of connections between Italian disinformation sources and different disinformation outlets across Europe, U.S. and Russia, featuring similar, even translated, articles in the period before the elections. Overall, the spread of disinformation on Twitter was confined in a limited community, strongly (and explicitly) related to the Italian conservative and far-right political environment, who had a limited impact on online discussions on the up-coming elections. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T04:12:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c63cc0fead2c4024a808cbfb7952bec6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T04:12:45Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-c63cc0fead2c4024a808cbfb7952bec62022-12-21T19:16:24ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032020-01-01151e022782110.1371/journal.pone.0227821Investigating Italian disinformation spreading on Twitter in the context of 2019 European elections.Francesco PierriAlessandro ArtoniStefano CeriWe investigate the presence (and the influence) of disinformation spreading on online social networks in Italy, in the 5-month period preceding the 2019 European Parliament elections. To this aim we collected a large-scale dataset of tweets associated to thousands of news articles published on Italian disinformation websites. In the observation period, a few outlets accounted for most of the deceptive information circulating on Twitter, which focused on controversial and polarizing topics of debate such as immigration, national safety and (Italian) nationalism. We found evidence of connections between Italian disinformation sources and different disinformation outlets across Europe, U.S. and Russia, featuring similar, even translated, articles in the period before the elections. Overall, the spread of disinformation on Twitter was confined in a limited community, strongly (and explicitly) related to the Italian conservative and far-right political environment, who had a limited impact on online discussions on the up-coming elections.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227821 |
| spellingShingle | Francesco Pierri Alessandro Artoni Stefano Ceri Investigating Italian disinformation spreading on Twitter in the context of 2019 European elections. PLoS ONE |
| title | Investigating Italian disinformation spreading on Twitter in the context of 2019 European elections. |
| title_full | Investigating Italian disinformation spreading on Twitter in the context of 2019 European elections. |
| title_fullStr | Investigating Italian disinformation spreading on Twitter in the context of 2019 European elections. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigating Italian disinformation spreading on Twitter in the context of 2019 European elections. |
| title_short | Investigating Italian disinformation spreading on Twitter in the context of 2019 European elections. |
| title_sort | investigating italian disinformation spreading on twitter in the context of 2019 european elections |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227821 |
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