The data provided by social media giants revealed a network of linked accounts that supported pro-US/anti-Russia narratives
Twitter and Facebook removed suspicious accounts that were suspected to be connected in an alleged conspiracy. “covert influence operations”Internet, with efforts to promote “pro-Western”Stanford University researchers have found that US opponents are often demonized and sentiments can be used to justify these actions.
Partnering with social media analytics firm Graphika, the Stanford Internet Observatory issued a report on Wednesday outlining the alleged influence ops, citing datasets provided by both Twitter and Meta, Facebook’s parent company.
In July and august, the platforms were taken down “two overlapping sets of accounts”For “manipulation,” “spam” “coordinated inauthentic behavior,”The researchers stated that they have found an identical gene. “interconnected web of accounts”On six other social media platforms. Accounts used “deceptive tactics”You can find more information here “promote pro-Western narratives,”Many others continued their operations for almost five years.
“These campaigns consistently advanced narratives promoting the interests of the United States and its allies while opposing countries including Russia, China, and Iran,”According to the report, the accounts were not in good standing. “heavily criticized”Moscow, in particular.
This and other stories were promoted by accounts that shared articles from US-funded media outlets like Voice of America or Radio Free Europe and linked to sites sponsored by the US military.
Although neither Twitter nor Meta can say for certain who the account is being operated by, Meta did name the UK and US as the operators. “presumptive countries of origin,”Meta stated that activity had been traced to the United States.
A potential connection between the US military was also revealed by the report. Some of the most followed accounts on the data set publicly stated a connection with the Pentagon. These accounts were not listed in the report. However, a military spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal they will be looked into.
Many fake profiles were created using AI-generated profile photos to create inauthentic social media handles. “leveraged” memes, short videos, hashtag campaigns and online petitions – in what the report deemed “the most extensive case of covert pro-Western [influence operations] on social media”Never seen before by independent researchers.
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Data also indicated the limitations of such campaign, including the “vast majority”One of hundreds of thousands post reviewed in the report “received no more than a handful of likes or retweets.”Furthermore, less than one-fifth (or 19%) of the account in question had over 1,000 followers prior to being removed. This suggests that they had very little influence.
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