Facebook and Twitter are being used to manipulate public opinion – report

Nine-country study finds widespread use of social media for promoting lies, misinformation and propaganda by governments and individuals

Propaganda on social media is being used to manipulate public opinion around the world, a new set of studies from the University of Oxford has revealed.

From Russia, where around 45% of highly active Twitter accounts are bots, to Taiwan, where a campaign against President Tsai Ing-wen involved thousands of heavily co-ordinated - but not fully automated - accounts sharing Chinese mainland propaganda, the studies show that social media is an international battleground for dirty politics.