I’m happy to share my first publication after my PhD, during my move from @hiigberlin.bsky.social to the CSS group led by @lorenzspreen.bsky.social. 🧵10/10

This study has many limitations. That is why I call it exploratory rather than representative. But take a look yourself! 🧵9/10

But the difference lies in targets: CDU/CSU use misinformation mainly against political opponents. AfD uses it to undermine democratic institutions. 🧵8/10

I also found a pattern on the supply side of misinformation. In quantity, politicians from AfD and CDU/CSU spread about the same amount (though conservatives are invited more often).
🧵7/10

That matters: research shows that failing to challenge radical claims makes audiences believe they are publicly accepted. This may also apply to misinformation.
🧵6/10

The talk show results aren’t surprising. In live, heated debates it’s hard to stop guests (often politicians) from spreading misinformation. Sometimes moderators challenged the claims. But in many cases, they didn’t. 🧵5/10

Result: about 12% of talk shows contained at least one match, compared to just over 2% of news programs. 🧵4/10

I analyzed subtitles from four news and six talk shows over one year. Too much material to check manually. So I used vector embeddings and LLMs to match fact-checks with subtitle segments. If a claim could be debunked with a fact-check, I counted it as misinformation.
🧵3/10

I examined German public broadcasting news (e.g., Tagesschau) and talk shows (e.g., Markus Lanz). Are they gatekeepers or amplifiers of misinformation? Spoiler: the truth might be somewhere in between. 🧵2/10

Excited to share that my paper "Separate Worlds of Misinformation" has just been published. When we talk about misinformation, we usually think of social media. But what about other information environments, even the most trusted ones?
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
🧵1/10

Our team at the Leibniz-Institut has two 100% vacancies! Deadline is 23.03.2025!

@dgpuk-meth.bsky.social

leibniz-hbi.de/hbi-news/ste...
leibniz-hbi.de/hbi-news/ste...

And another report on our work (with @saminenno.bsky.social), very pleased with the first output of our brand new group (css-synosys.github.io).

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/e...

Our work (credit to @saminenno.bsky.social) is part of this article about Elon Musk and the AfD on X:

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Here is our detailed report:

css-synosys.github.io/post/x_elect...

#CommunityNotes sollen #Desinformation bekämpfen – aber spiegeln sie auch politische Tendenzen wider? Vor der #Bundestagswahl analysiert @saminenno.bsky.social fast 9.000 Notes zu Posts von deutschen #Parteien & Politiker*innen. Zeichnen sich Muster ab?

👉Zum Artikel: www.hiig.de/community-no...

Do Alice Weidel and the AfD benefit from Musk's attention on X? @saminenno.bsky.social and @lorenzspreen.bsky.social examine how his public support & retweets coincide with Weidel’s massive reach increase. Can his influence be determined?

👉 Read full article: www.hiig.de/en/musk-x-an...

I would be curious, too 😅 Media coverage (my subjective impression) and polling numbers of the AfD increased in the recent weeks. But I dont know how to show a causal effect, unfortunately…

Posts von Weidel nach dem 16.12. und die nicht von Musk retweetet wurden, haben wesentlich mehr Views als vorher. Das kann (teilweise) mit dem Plus an Follows erklärt werden. Aber ja, die einzelnen Metriken sind z.T. entkoppelt

Olaf Scholz hat die Vertrauensfrage im Bundestag am 16.12. verloren. Guter Punkt, ergänzen wir in der nächsten Version

Nächste Woche dann auch nochmal auf deutsch im Blog vom @hiigberlin.bsky.social

Aber wir immer: Wir können nur Indizien sammeln - ohne Zugang zu den Empfehlungsalgorithmen sind definitive Antworten schwer.

- Seit dem 20. Dezember (Musk: Only the AfD can save Germany) steigen Weidels Follows teils sprunghaft an.
- Vor allem um das Gespräch zwischen Weidel und Musk erhält sie erneut viele Follows.
- Auch ihre Posts erhalten seitdem mehr Views und diese steigen bei Retweets durch Musk sprunghaft an.

Zusammen mit @lorenzspreen.bsky.social habe ich mir mal genauer angesehen wie sich Alice Weidels Reichweite in den vergangenen Wochen auf X entwickelt hat. Hier ein paar Ergebnisse. Alle Details gibt es im Blogpost: css-synosys.github.io/post/x_elect...