2024-08-01 00:59:56
Elon Musk had promised to “defeat the spambots or die trying” to overcome them, before buying the X platform, but in his new study, the NGO Global Witness examined 45 automated accounts on X, the spread of information and speech hatred before the UK election and now amplifying conspiracy theories around the US presidential campaign. These “bots” have generated more than four billion publications since the end of May.
“It’s surprising how easy it is to find accounts that appear as bots, spreading division around the British vote, and then find that they interfere directly in political discussions in the US,” said Ava Lee. World Witness.
They worked shortly before the British elections in early July. After all, some are interested in other high-profile events in the United States, such as the recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump and the withdrawal of President Joe Biden from the election campaign, according to the NGO.
The report says that the practice of automated accounts continues to affect X, despite Elon Musk’s promise to address the issue when he takes over the social network. These 45 accounts published a total of approximately 610,000 messages and increasingly racist and sexist messages, in addition to spreading incorrect information about the weather.
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The NGO does not know who controls these automated accounts. Global Witness has found no evidence that UK political parties are paying for, using or promoting these bots as part of their campaigning.
After Trump’s attack at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, some accounts that support the British right-wing Reform group began spreading baseless theories accusing Biden of being responsible.
Following Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential election race in November, several accounts targeted US Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive candidate of the Democratic Party, mainly by making “sexist” and racist comments.
The material of disinformation
Ava Lee called on X to “increase your moderation efforts and better enforce your own policies against malpractice.” “We are counting on them to protect our democracies from interference,” he added. The network is filled with many manipulations, does not have enough balanced content and does not have a clear strategy in the face of political information, criticizes the Global Witness.
The stakes are all the greater as the influence of “bots” does not decrease on X according to a report last year from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia, based on research covering messages up to one million.
A California company that employs thousands of employees, with many teams responsible for content moderation. These groups have the mission of information warfare, missions which have been greatly relaxed following these changes.
Last week, Elon Musk, who recently expressed his support for Donald Trump, shared a “deepfake” video (manipulated content) featuring Kamala Harris on X. It was heavily criticized by many group, because the video violates the platform’s rules.
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