Nearly half of Twitter accounts pushing to reopen America may be bots

[Ken555]

Nearly half of Twitter accounts pushing to reopen America may be bots

There has been a huge upswell of Twitter bot activity since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, amplifying medical disinformation and the push to reopen America.

Kathleen M. Carley and her team at Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Informed Democracy & Social Cybersecurity have been tracking bots and influence campaigns for a long time. Across US and foreign elections, natural disasters, and other politicized events, the level of bot involvement is normally between 10 and 20%, she says.

But in a new study, the researchers have found that bots may account for between 45 and 60% of Twitter accounts discussing covid-19. Many of those accounts were created in February and have since been spreading and amplifying misinformation, including false medical advice, conspiracy theories about the origin of the virus, and pushes to end stay-at-home orders and reopen America.

Nearly half of Twitter accounts pushing to reopen America may be bots

There has been a huge upswell of Twitter bot activity since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, amplifying medical disinformation and the push to reopen America.

www.technologyreview.com

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[PigsDad]

One of the many reasons I don't have a Twitter account. Just imagine how many bot accounts are promoting stay in place as well.

Kurt

 

[Ken555]

One of the many reasons I don't have a Twitter account. Just imagine how many bot accounts are promoting stay in place as well.

Kurt

Sadly, Twitter is just one source of these fake accounts, and their posts spread beyond Twitter. In most respects, Twitter and other social media platforms offer an excellent service...but the continual ease at allowing fake accounts and posts is troublesome, and has been for quite some time. Some of these fake stores make it to “reputable” news sources, as well...which is the ultimate goal for a few.

I haven’t read any reports of bots supporting stay at home. If you have a link on that, please post.


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