Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

The Role of Social Media Algorithms in Amplifying Misinformation in Political Elections

Ruoheng YangJohns Hopkins University*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

Social media platforms curate political information through engagement-optimising algorithms that determine what voters see and share. Evidence from computational communication and behavioural science demonstrates that false and sensational content spreads faster and farther than verified information, propelled less by automated actors than by human attention dynamics that algorithms privilege. This paper synthesises findings from twenty-two peer-reviewed studies across political communication, psychology, and information science to situate election misinformation within an engagement-first platform ecology. It reviews mechanisms by which recommender systems and feed ranking elevate emotionally charged posts; examines consequences for opinion formation, polarisation, and institutional trust across the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and India; and articulates a theoretically grounded agenda for empirical assessment. Building on this review, the paper specifies research questions that connect algorithmic amplification to voter-level exposure, belief change, and trust outcomes, and proposes a mixed-methods design integrating trace data, audit experiments, and voter surveys. The contribution clarifies how engagement metrics function as algorithmic signals that advantage misinformation at scale and outlines an evaluative framework for mitigation levers including transparency, friction, and literacy interventions.

Keywords: algorithmic amplification; election misinformation; engagement metrics
Published: November 19, 2025
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2025.29695
Volume: CHR Vol.84
pp. 73-78
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