Prejudice and bias researcher William Cox spoke with Channel 3000’s Amy Reid for the March 26 evening news about the psychology behind foreign election interference.
Research scientist William Cox, an expert on bias and prejudice, explained how one’s brain processes some of the ideas pushed by the memes. He said one ad in particular that shows a map of the United States wrapped in bacon and labeled “Sharia Free Zone,” plays into biases some Americans hold toward Muslims.
‘That’s basically saying we don’t want those kinds of people here, and they’re not supposed to be here,” he said. “And that’s the kind of stuff that can go on to perpetuate worse and worse kinds of hate and bias.”
The memes posted by these groups can blend in. They are on pages that look domestic, even Midwestern. One fake page was called “Iowa Patriot.”
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