Article cites research by Damon McCoy, assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering.
Internet billionaire Reid Hoffman apologized on Wednesday for funding a group linked to a “highly disturbing” effort that spread disinformation during last year’s Alabama special election for U.S. Senate, but said he was not aware that his money was being used for this purpose. Throughout the 2018 election season, Hoffman directed his cash toward other organizations that aimed to target conservatives on Facebook. Central to that effort was News for Democracy, whose ads garnered at least 16 million impressions on Facebook over a two-week period in September, according to researchers at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering.