NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights: September 2021 Report Release, Fueling the Fire: How Social Media Intensifies U.S. Political Polarization — And What Can Be Done About It, Paul M. Barrett, Justin Hendrix, J. Grant Sims. “This report analyzes the evidence bearing on social media’s role in polar-ization, assesses the effects of severe divisiveness, and recommends steps the government and the social media industry can take to ameliorate the problem. We conclude that Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are not the original or main cause of rising U.S. political polarization, a phenomenon that long predates the social media industry. But use of those platforms intensifies divisiveness and thus contributes to its corrosive consequences. This conclu-sion is bolstered by a close reading of the social science literature, interviews with sociologists and political scientists who have published studies in this area, and Facebook’s own pattern of internally researching the polarization problem and periodically adjusting its algorithms to reduce the flow of content likely to stoke political extremism and hatred…”

Neiman Lab: “A new NYU report finds that Facebook is part of the polarization problem, but not all of it. But its recommendations to reduce polarization don’t target the people who might have the most direct influence…”