Beware of Twitter Robots Telling You How to Vote

Are the bots ganging up on humans, shaming us and pressuring?


July 18, 2016

Lest democracy be undermined, humans need help in distinguishing their brethren from the bots.

Two years ago, in a report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the social networking site Twitter estimated that more than 23 million of its active user accounts were being run by “bots” -- software agents or bits of code that act on their own to respond to news and world events. They interact with real users, never revealing their true nature.
www.bloomberg.com...

23 Million "fake" twitters....
www.pbs.org...

According to the latest, our friends over the water have
been barraged by this as well during the time leading
up to the Brexit vote.

As part of the Computational Propaganda Research Project at Oxford University researchers looked at some 300,000 Twitter accounts and found that a mere 1 percent of them generated about one third of all tweets relevant to the Brexit debate. They believe that many of those accounts were run by bots..
www.bloomberg.com...

arxiv.org...


This has also been launched in Latin America.

How to Hack an Election -Andrés Sepúlveda rigged elections throughout
Latin America for almost a decade. He tells his story for the first time.

www.bloomberg.com...

In the United States, Hillary Rodham has the largest number of
fake Twitter followers, with some users calling "censorship"
of tweets critical of her, others rightly claim that
"trending tweets" over rank real #tags.

www.huffingtonpost.com...

An audit of Hillary Clinton's main Twitter feed, @HillaryClinton, shows that 41 percent of her followers are not real people, a far higher percentage of fake followers than all other Republican or Democratic candidates.
www.washingtonexaminer.com...

Someone is paying $$$.

It seems obvious that this AI influence has been underway for a good many years,
from Twitter to comment sections in the news, and even more. I've seen my fair
share of them this season, though I am fairly confident I would spot one immediately.

A few years ago some of us remember hearing about Quill...

Powered by Artificial Intelligence, Quill™ is our advanced natural language generation (Advanced NLG) platform for the enterprise that goes beyond reporting the numbers—it creates perfectly written narratives to convey meaning for any intended audience

www.narrativescience.com...

A list of bots that maybe trying to get your "vote".
ai.wikia.com...

Some of the language they use seems designed to
squash dissent, and perhaps even intimidate, and cause
some to be afraid to speak their real thoughts and opinions.

The truth behind AI bots -
www.infoworld.com...

Thoughts? Are these AI bots hired by the candidates, or higher up,
those who seek to change the order of the nations? Both?

Can you spot a bot? Tips?

One last thought.....

Voting is a social event, obvious each election year as evidenced
by the thread trends...we "talk to each other", our friends and
those across the isle, but is it ethical for candidates to pay for
AI "bots" to influence social media and intimidate humans?

a reply to: burntheships

If anyone is voting for a candidate because some random stranger on Twitter told them they should, then they'd better not open their mouths later on when their stupidity comes back to haunt them and the one they picked turns out to be the last thing they really wanted. I mean, how stupid can people be? Well, pretty damned obviously, if there's a need to warn the public about this. I'm sorry, but that's just one of the most inane things I have ever heard of. It almost makes me look forward to the apocalypse sometimes, seriously.

Yeah, I just got a thrill out of blocking Hillary.

originally posted by: tigertatzen then they'd better not open their mouths later on when their stupidity comes back to haunt them and the one they picked turns out to be the last thing they really wanted.

You don't think this happens? I have seen hundreds of people
wish they had never voted for a candidate, only after the fact.

Someone has spent a fortune on this, my bet is it has a great effect.

a reply to: westcoast

Perfect example here of how this is working.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

I can imagine the fake twitter accounts all "reporting" the
user, and complaining, as if they have real value, which
if they are "fake" ...it is tantamount to fraud, which
goes back to the SEC.

This is like a scene out of Spectre...

At one point, Sepúlveda spent $50,000 on high-end Russian software that made quick work of tapping Apple, BlackBerry, and Android phones. He also splurged on the very best fake Twitter profiles; they’d been maintained for at least a year, giving them a patina of believability.

Sepúlveda managed thousands of such fake profiles and used the accounts to shape discussion around topics such as Peña Nieto’s plan to end drug violence, priming the social media pump with views that real users would mimic. For less nuanced work, he had a larger army of 30,000 Twitter bots, automatic posters that could create trends. One conversation he started stoked fear that the more López Obrador rose in the polls, the lower the peso would sink. Sepúlveda knew the currency issue was a major vulnerability; he’d read it in the candidate’s own internal staff memos.
www.bloomberg.com...

Hate who you will, JUST VOTE.

a reply to: cavtrooper7

Oh, I will. And this year I wont be writing in a name.
Whoever is opposing her has it... It is critical mass.

a reply to: burntheships

Oh, I've seen the buyer's remorse, many times. It always gives me a chuckle. But people actually going out and choosing a candidate based on a random tweet from someone they don't even know? I find that to be ridiculous. And if there are indeed people who are that stunningly stupid, they deserve whatever candidate they put into office.

When do we hold someone accountable for this? This is a great crime.. will people do anything about it? I doubt that.

These people should be imprisoned or hanged. They deserve no leniency whatsoever.

Don't you think this is alarming tigertatzen? This is being used to push the chosen narrative of incredibly corrupt people. They're hijacking public discourse because they know most people are conformists that are easily influenced by groupthink. This is very disconcerting, I was already pretty sure this was happening but more people should hear about this. And someone should have to answer for this travesty.

It's not like Twitter would be the only venue they're using this on, if they're using it on Twitter you can be damned sure they're using it all over the internet.

I suspect that if our authorities ever even acknowledge this they'll use it as an excuse for an internet ID. These people don't lose, even when they lose they win because people are too ignorant and they JUST DON'T CARE.

How long will it take for people to recognise that these people are irredeemably corrupt? Their poisonous influence can be felt everywhere but no one cares, no one cares at all.. Good luck with society people, good f*cking luck.

originally posted by: tigertatzen And if there are indeed people who are that stunningly stupid, they deserve whatever candidate they put into office.

Oh, yeah if it was just one tweet, but that is not how these bots work.

Its not like they just tweet " Vote for Brexit". The bots create
narratives, then news cycles, and politicians actually respond with
campaign promises and so on... just one example.

And this is not limited to The United States, reading some
of the supporting links this happens anywhere social engineering
needs a push.

originally posted by: burntheships

An audit of Hillary Clinton's main Twitter feed, @HillaryClinton, shows that 41 percent of her followers are not real people, a far higher percentage of fake followers than all other Republican or Democratic candidates.

www.washingtonexaminer.com...

And I bet they're programmed to lie too !!!

Hillary needs help to cover up the proven lies.

a reply to: burntheships

What a shame that I don't do twitter. Or facebook. I think I'm safe from the 'bots...

originally posted by: xuenchen

And I bet they're programmed to lie too !!!

Working for her, they would have to!
At least they dont have to fear for their lives!

a reply to: seagull

Yes, I do not do either one, though I have observed the effects
of this even going back to the "Arab Spring".

And I would love to see the report from the SEC, in case anyone
can find it. So far no luck here.

a reply to: burntheships

Can you spot a bot?

Look for pro Hillary users who rationalize her lies,scandals, incompetence for national security , and conflict of interests as good traits for a world leader to have.

Look for Pro Trump users who have absolute confidence that he is sincere.

If they are not AI bots than they are lacking cerebral functions or are regurgitative thinkers feeding from the KoolAid.


As for the bots, they are based on algorithms and can easily be modified. The only way to ensure they are not bots is via common sense and putting slight effort to researching the issue.

Sadly the majority can all be classified as regurgitative bots eitherwise neither Trump or Hillary would have been in the running. Especially Hillary.

originally posted by: tigertatzen
a reply to: burntheships

If anyone is voting for a candidate because some random stranger on Twitter told them they should, then they'd better not open their mouths later on when their stupidity comes back to haunt them and the one they picked turns out to be the last thing they really wanted. I mean, how stupid can people be? Well, pretty damned obviously, if there's a need to warn the public about this. I'm sorry, but that's just one of the most inane things I have ever heard of. It almost makes me look forward to the apocalypse sometimes, seriously.

Most people are voting based on how someone else told them to vote, whether through twitter or their other light boxes. How else do we end up with Clinton VS Trump if not for most of the voting people being so easily manipulated?

originally posted by: TheLaughingGod
When do we hold someone accountable for this? This is a great crime.. will people do anything about it? I doubt that.

Well apparently, Twitter, even though it is against the T&C is
not doing anything about it.

Yeah, the next time I hear anything in the media about
such and such trending on twitter....

originally posted by: interupt42


Look for pro Hillary users who rationalize her lies,scandals, incompetence for national security , and conflict of interests as good traits for a world leader to have.

Ah, yes sounds familiar, I have seen quite a bit of that.
Not so much with The Donald, maybe I am just too focused.



You bring up an interesting point about the bots...having different
levels of AI. So some just regurgitate hmmmm.....

I recall reading somewhere about pro government bots too....

originally posted by: VivreLibre

Most people are voting based on how someone else told them to vote, whether through twitter or their other light boxes. How else do we end up with Clinton VS Trump if not for most of the voting people being so easily manipulated?

A good bit of research here:

Automating Power: Social Bot Interference in Global Politics.

firstmonday.org...