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Cited by 12Misinformation and Its ImpactsSocial Media and PoliticsMedia Influence and Politics

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Disinformation creep: ADOS and the strategic weapon-ization of breaking news

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Nkonde, Mutale, Rodriguez, Maria Y., Cortana, Leonard, Mukogosi, Joan K., King, Shakira, Serrato, Ray, Martinez, Natalie, Drummer, Mary, Lewis, Ann, Malik, Momin M.·2021·Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review
DOI 10.37016/mr-2020-52
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Abstract

In this essay, we conduct a descriptive content analysis from a sample of a dataset made up of 534 thousand scraped tweets, supplemented with access to 1.36 million tweets from the Twitter fire-hose, from accounts that used the #ADOS hashtag between November 2019 and September 2020. ADOS is an acronym for American Descendants of Slavery, a largely online group that operates within Black online communities. We find that the ADOS network strategically uses breaking news events to encourage discourage Black voters from voting for the Democratic party, a phenomenon we call disinformation creep. Conversely, the ADOS network has remained largely silent about the impact of the novel coronavirus on Black communities, undermining its claims that it works in the interests of Black Americans.

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Research works printed but not linked: 23

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

  • Exploring #Diasporawars on Black Twitter

    Musgrave, T., Ye, Y., Toyama, K., Schoenebeck, S., & Threats, M. (2025) · Social Media + Society · doi:10.1177/20563051251352834 · Cited by 3

    “Black Twitter serves as a digital battleground where users challenge mis/disinformation (Nkonde et al., 2021), respectability politics (Hill, 2018), and hegemonic narratives (Lockett, 2021).”

See all 12

Metadata

Authors
Nkonde, M., Rodriguez, M. Y., Cortana, L., Mukogosi, J. K., King, S., Serrato, R., Martinez, N., Drummer, M., Lewis, A., & Malik, M. M.
Affiliations
  • Columbia University (US)
  • University at Buffalo, State University of New York (US)
  • New York University (US)
  • AI for the People, USA
  • MoveOn, USA
ORCID
Venue
Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review
Publisher
Shorenstein Center for Media, Politics, and Public Policy
Published
2021-01-19
ISSN
2766-1652 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.37016/mr-2020-52
OpenAlex
W3124591688
Cited by
12
References
5
Citations by year
2025: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 3
FWCI
3.46
Type
journal article
Language
en
Status
Retracted
Update notices
retraction (2021-12-22)
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Misinformation and Its Impacts
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Social Media and Politics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Media Influence and Politics
Keywords
Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, hashtag activism, Black voters, Democratic Party, voter suppression, COVID-19 misinformation, Twitter, political disinformation

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Disinformation creep: ADOS and the strategic weapon-ization of breaking news. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.37016/mr-2020-52
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Nkonde, M., Rodriguez, M. Y., Cortana, L., Mukogosi, J. K., King, S., Serrato, R., Martinez, N., Drummer, M., Lewis, A., & Malik, M. M. (2021). Disinformation creep: ADOS and the strategic weapon-ization of breaking news. Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review. https://doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-52