Study: Trump Supporters More Likely to Share ‘Junk’ News

A new study from the Oxford Internet Institute concluded that Trump supporters are more likely to share “ideologically extreme, conspiratorial, sensationalist and phony information” on social media. Although the study found that “junk” news was available on both sides of the American political aisle, supporters of Donald Trump were more prone to sharing posts from the non-mainstream outlets on Twitter and Facebook. Lead researcher Philip Howard told McClatchy that the results suggest that “a small chunk of the population isn’t able to talk politics or share ideas in a sensible way with the rest of the population.” Howard went on to say that the fake news environment was contributing to the country’s increasing polarization.