Bots spread fake news in US election

■ 6% of Twitter accounts spread 31% of ‘low-credibility’ info

Washington, Nov. 21: Automated Twitter accounts or “bots” played a disproportionate role in spreading misinformation online during the 2016 US presidential election, according to a study.

The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, analysed 14 million messages and 400,000 articles shared on Twitter between May 2016 and March 2017.

The period spans the end of the 2016 presidential primaries and the presidential inauguration on January 20, 2017.

Researchers from Indiana University in the US found that a mere six per cent of Twitter accounts that the study identified as bots were enough to spread 31 per

This study finds that bots significantly contribute to the spread of misinformation online - as well as shows how quickly these messages can spread.

— FILIPPO MENCZER,

Indiana University prof.

cent of the “low-credibility” information on the network.

These accounts were also responsible for 34 per cent of all articles shared from “low-credibility” sources, they found. The study also found that bots played a major role promoting lowcredibility content in the first few moments before a story goes viral.

The brief length of this time -- 2 to 10 seconds -highlights the challenges of countering the spread of misinformation online, researchers said.

Similar issues are seen in other complex environments like the stock market, where serious problems can arise in mere moments due to the impact of high-frequency trading. “This study finds that bots significantly contribute to the spread of misinformation online -as well as shows how quickly these messages can spread,” said Filippo Menczer, a professor at Indiana University.

The analysis also revealed that bots amplify a message's volume and visibility until it's more likely to be shared broadly.

–PTI