The Facebook pages that spread the most election misinformation belong to Trump, his son, and a set of right-wing commentators, new research finds

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The Facebook pages that spread the most election misinformation belong to Trump, his son, and a set of right-wing commentators, new research finds
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  • In the wake of the US presidential election on November 3, social media was flooded with misinformation.
  • Among the Facebook pages most responsible for spreading that misinformation were Donald Trump Jr. and the conservative vloggers Diamond and Silk, a new study by Avaaz cited by The New York Times said.
  • The top 25 Facebook pages responsible for spreading election misinformation accounted for over 25% of interactions with that misinformation, Avaaz found.
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Election misinformation has run rampant in the wake of the US presidential election on November 3, and the sitting president is reportedly most responsible for its spread.

New research compiled by the global human-rights group Avaaz and cited by The New York Times pointed to President Donald Trump as the No. 1 Facebook user responsible for spreading election misinformation.

His eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is a few spots below in the top five, among the conservative commentators Dan Bongino, Diamond and Silk, and Mark Levin, according to the Avaaz data.

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Avaaz found that the top 25 accounts spreading election misinformation were responsible for over 25% of all interactions with that misinformation.

There is no evidence to support claims of widespread voter fraud, and a gaggle of legal cases brought by the Trump campaign aimed at overturning election results in various states have failed.

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Results were still coming in for days after the election. On November 6, Insider and Decision Desk HQ projected Joe Biden to win the election, and most other mainstream outlets projected the same outcome the following morning.

But the president refused to concede, pushing unsubstantiated claims that the election was "the most corrupt election in American political history" — even as several contested states certified their election results this week and the head of the General Services Administration approved the funding necessary for Biden's transition.

Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all warn users that posts they see may contain misinformation — but that doesn't stop millions of people from engaging with them and sharing them. Avaaz found that the top 25 "superspreaders" of misinformation were responsible for over 75 million likes, shares, and comments on Facebook since Election Day.

Got a tip? Contact Business Insider senior correspondent Ben Gilbert via email (bgilbert@businessinsider.com), or Twitter DM (@realbengilbert). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by email only, please.

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