Over a hundred million American adults read news on social media, but in the wake of the crisis in Ukraine, antisemitism, hate speech, and disinformation have spread widely on Facebook. ADL researchers found evidence of the continued presence of problematic posts on the platform, the most popular site for getting news, as well as the prevalence of external links directing users to alternative platforms and sites popular among extremists. Roughly 61% of these posts included links to other sites, and we examined where these links went; they direct users to sites with meaningful amounts of hateful, false or otherwise harmful content. In terms of frequency, the external links on Facebook rival those to credible news sources.
While Twitter blocks links to hate speech and violence, Facebook has no such policy. Instead, it allows posts to link to conspiracies, antisemitic content, and other troubling material.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in late February 2022, social media platforms quickly responded by updating their content moderation policies to fit a wartime context. While many of these efforts are welcomed and have helped reduce disinformation, some have sown confusion and drawn criticism.