Russia Uses Facebook to Disrupt Midterm Elections

Jennifer Grygiel, assistant professor of communications in the Newhouse School, was quoted in the Associated Press story “Using common social media tactics to subvert US elections.”

Russia is working hard to disrupt the U.S midterm elections through social media outlets like Facebook and Instagram. These perpetrators are creating fake accounts on the site and promoting ads that can possibly turn Americans against one another.

“They’re almost functioning like social media editors, figuring out what the trending topics are in the U.S. and figuring out where they can insert themselves,” says Grygiel, social media expert.