Down the bot hole: Actionable insights from a one-year analysis of bot activity on Twitter

First Monday ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Luceri ◽  
Felipe Cardoso ◽  
Silvia Giordano
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Online Discussion ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Midterm Elections ◽  
Run Up ◽  
One Year ◽  
The U.S

Social media represent persuasive tools that have been progressively weaponized to affect beliefs, spread manipulative narratives, and sow conflicts along divergent factions. Software-controlled accounts (i.e., bots) are one of the main actors associated with manipulation campaigns, especially in a political context. Uncovering the strategies behind bots’ activities is of paramount importance to detect and curb such campaigns. In this paper, we present a long term (one year) analysis of bots activity on Twitter in the run-up to the 2018 U.S. midterm elections. We identify different classes of accounts based on their nature (human vs. bot) and engagement within the online discussion and we observe that hyperactive bots played a pivotal role in the dissemination of conspiratorial narratives, while dominating the political debate in the year before the election. Our analysis, in advance of the U.S. 2020 presidential election, reveals both alarming findings of human susceptibility to bots and actionable insights that can contribute to curbing coordinated campaigns.

scholarly journals Virtual Trolling On Political Debate Of 2018 Brazilian Presidential Election: Which “wing” can be blamed?

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Conrado Demartini Antunes ◽  
Alexandre Cappellozza
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
The Political ◽  
Presidential Candidate ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Internet Culture ◽  
Using Data

Social media is already one of the main sources of information for online users. In this context, the political debate has taken account of social media during the 2018 Brazil Presidential Election, where Brazilian virtual militants exchanged the debate to clash themselves. Offenses had the characteristics of trolling: a marginalized Internet culture that is increasingly appearing in the mainstream of social media This study aims to analyze how trolling actions could be perceived during the 2018 Brazilian elections, polarized between right and left-wings, by performing social network analysis using data from Twitter. Our results show that personal attacks intended to defame the participants and their ideologies before elections. Their influences on social media have shaped the patterns of attacks among militants on digital platforms, as well as endangering democratic values because of their ideals. The Brazilian presidential elections of 2018 demonstrate that trolling behavior produces a bellicose discourse on social media, where all sides influence and attack each other, which can lead to undemocratic discourses. Therefore, trolling behavior resulted in voters who were more concerned with debasing their opponents than paying attention to their presidential candidate proposals.

Influence of social media will grow in Madagascar

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Narratives ◽  
Ruling Elites ◽  
Run Up ◽  
Political Weapon

Significance The situation has exposed several scandals, putting President Andry Rajoelina and his entourage on the political defensive. Social media has become a potent political weapon in the hands of ruling elites as a way to shape political narratives and discredit opponents. Impacts Rajoelina will struggle to hold together his circle of political allies in the run-up to the 2023 elections. Opposition groups will have difficulty capitalising on government divisions due to their own fragmentation. Social media will play an increasingly central role in driving political debate.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Michael J. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Military Service ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Immigration Laws ◽  
Mitigating Factors ◽  
Unauthorized Immigrant ◽  
Policy Challenge ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Over Time

This chapter introduces the book’s argument for a pathway to U.S. citizenship for long-term resident, unauthorized immigrants through their community contributions in relationships they have developed over time in their adopted country. It addresses the scope of the policy challenge of unauthorized immigrant residence in the U.S. in terms of numbers of migrants and the persistence of the political debate over their future. It explains the special moral challenges that arise from immigrant military service, as well as from the deportation of the parents of citizen children and the separation of their families through immigration enforcement. It then provides a set of nonhumanitarian justifications for legalizing unauthorized immigrants based on their contributions in their relationships with citizens. This argument balances citizen interests in enforcing immigration laws against mitigating factors, including service to citizens, communities, and the nation as a whole.

Fake It “Till You Make It”: Debunking Fake News in a Post-Truth America

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-133
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
First Amendment ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Cutting Edge ◽  
American People ◽  
Fake News ◽  
News Sources ◽  
The Media ◽  
The U.S

Since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, attacks on the media have been relentless. “Fake news” has become a household term, and repeated attempts to break the trust between reporters and the American people have threatened the validity of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In this article, the authors trace the development of fake news and its impact on contemporary political discourse. They also outline cutting-edge pedagogies designed to assist students in critically evaluating the veracity of various news sources and social media sites.

scholarly journals A Data-Driven Framework for Coding the Intent and Extent of Political Tweeting, Disinformation, and Extremism

Information ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 148
Author(s):  
Mahdi Hashemi
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Online Social Networks ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Affiliation ◽  
News Sources ◽  
The U.S

Disinformation campaigns on online social networks (OSNs) in recent years have underscored democracy’s vulnerability to such operations and the importance of identifying such operations and dissecting their methods, intents, and source. This paper is another milestone in a line of research on political disinformation, propaganda, and extremism on OSNs. A total of 40,000 original Tweets (not re-Tweets or Replies) related to the U.S. 2020 presidential election are collected. The intent, focus, and political affiliation of these political Tweets are determined through multiple discussions and revisions. There are three political affiliations: rightist, leftist, and neutral. A total of 171 different classes of intent or focus are defined for Tweets. A total of 25% of Tweets were left out while defining these classes of intent. The purpose is to assure that the defined classes would be able to cover the intent and focus of unseen Tweets (Tweets that were not used to determine and define these classes) and no new classes would be required. This paper provides these classes, their definition and size, and example Tweets from them. If any information is included in a Tweet, its factuality is verified through valid news sources and articles. If any opinion is included in a Tweet, it is determined that whether or not it is extreme, through multiple discussions and revisions. This paper provides analytics with regard to the political affiliation and intent of Tweets. The results show that disinformation and extreme opinions are more common among rightists Tweets than leftist Tweets. Additionally, Coronavirus pandemic is the topic of almost half of the Tweets, where 25.43% of Tweets express their unhappiness with how Republicans have handled this pandemic.

scholarly journals Perang Tagar Di Ruang Virtual Diskursus Politik Capres Pasca Debat Putaran Kedua

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Ana Fitriana P ◽  
Ema Ema ◽  
Fardiah Oktariani Lubis
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Virtual Space ◽  
The Political ◽  
Virtual Communication ◽  
Presidential Candidates ◽  
Subject Pronouns ◽  
Source Of Information

This study aims to uncover the political discourse of the Presidential Candidates after the second round of debates, Jokowi VS Prabowo in virtual space. The background of the political discourse of the 2019 Presidential Election debate in the virtual space gave rise to various responses and sentiments among the supporters. After the Presidential Election debate, the hashtag war between #BohongLagiJokowi and # 02GagapUnicorn on social media Twitter became the main discussion. The aim is to disperse the power, ideology, and interests behind the presidential political discourse through the Fairclough Critical Discourse Analysis. The research method uses qualitative methods to parse the problem in research, using critical thinking as a basis for research. The results showed the tweet of Prabowo supporters trying to show stunts through language. The use of subject pronouns such as the word Mukidi to dwarf the subject, also uses the hashtags #DeletJokowi, #UnistallJokowi, and #BohongLagiJokowi as symbols of virtual communication. In contrast, the tweet of Jokowi's supporters sent a stuttering sentiment because they didn't understand the e-comer business. Hashtag # 02GagapUnicorn as a virtual symbol for organizing texts. In the order of messo or the production of text, the two supporters make a virtual symbol through the hashtag to become a topic of discussion on Twitter. In the situational or macro aspects are influenced by the post-truth phenomenon that is vague information whose source is unclear, have an impact on the inclusion of opinions on the assassination of certain characters. The advice, wise social media, understand and thoroughly source of information, is not affected by the use of certain metaphors, and at the stage of text, production needs to pay attention to the effects that will impact on the influence of social psychology of each supporter.Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengungkap diskursus politik Capres pasca debat putaran kedua, Jokowi VS Prabowo di ruang virtual. Dilatarbelakangi oleh lanskap diskursus politik debat Pilpres 2019 di ruang virtual yang menimbulkan berbagai tanggapan dan sentimen di antara kedua kubu pendukung. Pasca debat Pilpres perang tagar antara #BohongLagiJokowi dan #02GagapUnicorn di Twitter menjadi pembahasan utama. Tujuannya untuk membongkar kuasa, ideologi dan kepentingan di balik wacana politik Pilpres melalui analisis wacana kritis Fairclough. Metode penelitian menggunakan metode kualitatif untuk mengurai masalah dalam penelitian, dengan menggunakan pemikiran kritis sebagai dasar pijakan penelitian. Hasil penelitian menunjukan tweet warganet pendukung Prabowo berusaha menunjukkan pengkerdilan melalui Bahasa. Penggunaan kata ganti subjek seperti kata Mukidi untuk mengkerdilkan subjek, juga menggunakan tagar #DeletJokowi, #UninstallJokowi dan #BohongLagiJokowi sebagai simbol komunikasi virtual. Namun sebaliknya, tweet warganet pendukung Jokowi membuat sentimen dengan kata-kata gagap karena tidak memahami bisnis milenial (e-commerce). Tagar #02GagapUnicorn sebagai simbol virtual untuk pengorganisasin teks, sedangkan di tahapan produksi teks (messo) kedua pendukung membuat simbol virtual melalui tagar (#) untuk menjadi tren topik pembahasan di Twitter. Pada aspek situasional (makro) dipengaruhi oleh fenomena post-truth yaitu informasi-informasi samar yang tidak jelas sumbernya, berdampak terhadap penggiringan opini terhadap pembunuhan karakter tertentu. Sarannya, bijak bermedia sosial, pahami dan teliti sumber informasinya, tidak terpengaruh terhadap penggunaaan metafora tertentu, serta pada tahap produksi teks perlu memperhatikan efeknya yang akan berdampak pada pengaruh psikologi sosial masing-masing pendukung. 

scholarly journals Electoral Disinformation: Looking Through the Lens of Tsek.ph Fact Checks

Plaridel ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 285-295
Author(s):  
Yvonne Chua ◽  
Jake Soriano
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Midterm Elections ◽  
Fertile Ground ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Media ◽  
Fact Checking

Elections are fertile ground for disinformation. The 2019 midterm elections, like the 2016 presidential election, buttress this observation. This ugly side of electoral contests is documented by Tsek.ph, a pioneering collaborative fact-checking initiative launched by three universities and eleven newsrooms specifically for the midterms. Its repository of fact checks provides valuable insights into the nature of electoral disinformation before, during and after the elections. Clearly, electoral disinformation emanates from candidates and supporters alike, on conventional (e.g., speeches and sorties) and digital (e.g., social media) platforms. Its wide range of victims includes the media no less.

Chilean Copper and U.S. Companies

2020 ◽  
pp. 97-117
Author(s):  
Sebastián Hurtado-Torres
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cold War ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Democratic Government ◽  
Chilean Copper ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The U.S

This chapter focuses on the role of copper policies in the relations between the United States and Chile during the Frei administration, especially as they relate to the developmental efforts of the Christian Democratic project. During the Frei administration, the political debate on copper policies reached a climax. Since U.S. capitals were among the most significant actors in the story, the discussions around the issue of copper converged with the ideological visions of the United States and the Cold War held by the different Chilean political parties. As the Frei administration tried to introduce the most comprehensive and consistent reform around the structure of the property of the Gran Minería del Cobre, the forces in competition in the arena of Chilean politics stood by their ideological convictions, regarding both copper and the United States, in their opposition or grudging support for the policies proposed by the Christian Democratic government. Moreover, the U.S. government became deeply involved in the matter of copper in Chile, first by pressuring the Chilean government into rolling back a price increase in 1965 and then, mostly through the personal efforts of Ambassador Edward Korry, by mediating in the negotiation between the Frei administration and Anaconda on the nationalization of the U.S. company's largest mine, Chuquicamata, in 1969.

False Information Narratives

2019 ◽  
pp. 326-348
Author(s):  
J. J. Sylvia IV ◽  
Kyle Moody
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Internet Research ◽  
False Information ◽  
Media Campaigns ◽  
Geographic Locations ◽  
The U.S ◽  
The Way

The issue of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election has been widely debated by scholars and journalists. However, these works have not fully analyzed the ads that have been released by Facebook and the U.S. Congress. This project uses a case study to analyze the ads posted by the Russian-affiliated Internet Research Agency, considering the quantities of ads targeted to particular geographic locations, the frequency of targeting for unique keywords, and the reach and impressions of each of the ads. Further, these results are compared to results from best practices in traditional social media campaigns as a way to better understand the goals and potential impacts of the IRA ads. In conclusion, the project, by analyzing the full set of IRA ads, sheds new light on the way false information narratives were leveraged by the Russian-linked IRA.

Reintegrating Cuba into the Global Economy

2019 ◽  
pp. 241-276
Author(s):  
Larry Catá Backer
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Global Trade ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Cooperation Agreement ◽  
Political Dialogue ◽  
The World ◽  
The U.S

This chapter seeks to answer the question: What internal Cuban legal adjustments are necessary for Cuba to enter into a fully normalized relationship with the United States. and the rest of the world? The chapter first focuses on the adjustments Cuba might have to undertake if it is to embed itself within the structures of global trade and finance. Next, the chapter examines the extent to which Cuba is disposed to consider these possible reforms. Third, it examines what may be possible in the aftermath of the U.S. presidential election of 2016 (and its aftermath) and other global changes, including the emergence of a Chinese alternative to national embedding in global trade. These have considerably changed the terrain within with the consequences of U.S.-Cuba normalization can be considered. The examination considers the value of the European Union’s strategic initiative, the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA), as a viable basis for Cuban reintegration in the global economy.

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