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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.
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.
They follow well-worn patterns of coordinated influence campaigns, and their strategy is already working: since the beginning of the crisis, the researchers have observed a greater polarisation in Twitter discourse around the topic.
[...] Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions to this problem. Banning or removing accounts won't work, as more can be spun up for every one that is deleted. Banning accounts that spread inaccurate facts also won't solve anything. "A lot of disinformation is done through innuendo or done through illogical statements, and those are hard to discover," she says.
Carley says researchers, corporations, and the government need to coordinate better to come up with effective policies and practices for tamping this down. "I think we need some kind of general oversight group," she says. "Because no one group can do it alone."
Twitter accounts pushing to reopen America
[Source]: Misinformation and Disinformation Regarding Coronavirus in Social Media
What is your take on this?
Researchers: Nearly Half of Accounts Tweeting about Coronavirus are Likely Bots
Researchers: Nearly Half Of Accounts Tweeting About Coronavirus Are Likely Bots:
Nearly half of the Twitter accounts spreading messages on the social media platform about the coronavirus pandemic are likely bots, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University said Wednesday.
Researchers culled through more than 200 million tweets discussing the virus since January and found that about 45% were sent by accounts that behave more like computerized robots than humans.
It is too early to say conclusively which individuals or groups are behind the bot accounts, but researchers said the tweets appeared aimed at sowing division in America.
"We do know that it looks like it's a propaganda machine, and it definitely matches the Russian and Chinese playbooks, but it would take a tremendous amount of resources to substantiate that," said Kathleen Carley, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University who is conducting a study into bot-generated coronavirus activity on Twitter that has yet to be published.
[..] Reuters reported in March that Russian media have recently deployed a widespread disinformation campaign against the West to worsen the impact of the coronavirus to create panic and distrust.
Efforts to fight back against the spread of false information about COVID-19 come just as the federal government and election security experts keep a watchful eye on the November election.
American intelligence agencies concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. Experts believe Russian actors will try to influence the 2020 vote as well, including by using social media to amplify their messages.
(Score: 5, Funny) by MostCynical on Friday May 22 2020, @08:52AM (12 children)
FTFY
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by gtomorrow on Friday May 22 2020, @09:45AM (2 children)
FTFEveryone
That's some high-quality
clickbaitnews aggregation.(Score: 2, Insightful) by claywar on Friday May 22 2020, @11:12AM (1 child)
There, I polished up and refactored your fix :)
(Score: 2) by gtomorrow on Friday May 22 2020, @01:24PM
HAHAHAHA! Wow, that turd really needs some polishing (and refactoring)!
(Score: 3, Funny) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday May 22 2020, @10:21AM (5 children)
#BotLivesMatter
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday May 22 2020, @11:32AM (2 children)
Bot should be pleased [soylentnews.org]
Alas, no one has registered as "Idiot" or "1d10t"
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 22 2020, @02:32PM (1 child)
> Alas, no one has registered as "Idiot" or "1d10t"
Alias, we have aristarchus
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 22 2020, @08:15PM
Your denigration of men of science is noted. Would you like a nice Covid-19 vaccination? No?
(Score: 3, Touché) by DeathMonkey on Friday May 22 2020, @05:45PM (1 child)
#AllLivesMAtter, unless their deaths would improve the Stock Market, of course!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 23 2020, @05:48AM
I swear you must be getting sick of this link [marxists.org], but every week it's like someone's begging for an interpretation of the current bullshit.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 22 2020, @12:20PM
I thought it was 80%. Platform beyond redemption.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday May 22 2020, @12:32PM
On Twitter I think you're pushing 90+% with those two classes combined.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 22 2020, @01:55PM
Nearly all Twitter Accounts are Likely Bots or Idiots