Twitter pulls down bot network that pushed pro-Saudi talking points about disappeared journalist
Twitter recently took down hundreds of bots that were using the platform to influence public opinion of the recent disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. After the recent coverage of said journalist, there has been a spike in pro-Saudi Arabia tweets on Twitter, most of them traced to spam accounts. Influence operations are often undertaken using social media because of the ease of exposure and relative anonymity it grants to participants. One unusual aspect of the botnet was that its behavior was more sophisticated. Instead of flooding Twitter all at once, the bots posted intermittently to evade detection.
This article relates to the course material in that network theory is often used to identify spam accounts on social media platforms. Due to the Triadic Closure Property, people who share a friend are pressured to form a friendship with each other, otherwise the state of the network will become a source of stress. Spam accounts do not feel this pressure and will link up with as many people as possible to fulfill their job. Therefore, it is relatively easy to identify a spam account that behaves this way. An algorithm could look for missing links in potential triads and highlight accounts that have many unsatisfied triads for closer inspection. While such an algorithm could work, advances in technology has also given rise to smarter spambot algorithms designed specifically to evade detection, such as the Twitter bots. By also being aware of network theory, the bots can conceal themselves from standard detection algorithms.
In my opinion, the idea of exploiting social media to shift public opinion is an interesting phenomenon. We already see advertisements doing just that, only it is for profit rather than for a political cause. I imagine that many advertising agencies are studying how information spreads on social media platforms to improve their own advertising tactics. With extensive knowledge on how information travels online, savvy companies can potentially reach much more people than ever before. In any case, this is definitely not the last time an organization uses social media to spread their message.