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posted by chromas on Friday August 24 2018, @09:59PM   Printer-friendly
from the antipro dept.

Russian trolls 'spreading discord' over vaccine safety online

Bots and Russian trolls spread misinformation about vaccines on Twitter to sow division and distribute malicious content before and during the American presidential election, according to a new study.

Scientists at George Washington University, in Washington DC, made the discovery while trying to improve social media communications for public health workers, researchers said. Instead, they found trolls and bots skewing online debate and upending consensus about vaccine safety.

The study discovered several accounts, now known to belong to the same Russian trolls who interfered in the US election, as well as marketing and malware bots, tweeting about vaccines.

Russian trolls played both sides, the researchers said, tweeting pro- and anti-vaccine content in a politically charged context. "These trolls seem to be using vaccination as a wedge issue, promoting discord in American society," Mark Dredze, a team member and professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins, which was also involved in the study, said. "By playing both sides, they erode public trust in vaccination, exposing us all to the risk of infectious diseases. Viruses don't respect national boundaries."

Also at NYT.

Weaponized Health Communication: Twitter Bots and Russian Trolls Amplify the Vaccine Debate (DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2018.304567) (DX)


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by jelizondo on Saturday August 25 2018, @01:49AM

    by jelizondo (653) Subscriber Badge on Saturday August 25 2018, @01:49AM (#726111) Journal

    Watch "Yuval Noah Harari: Technology is humanity's biggest challenge" at Al Jazeera [aljazeera.com]

    Among the things he talks about is algorithms (AI) being given the task of increasing web traffic, and finding that "fake news" make people angry or fearful and that drives more visits.

    Very interesting interview.

    Starting Score:    1  point
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