A Suspected Network Of 13,000 Twitter Bots Pumped Out Pro-Brexit Messages In The Run-Up To The EU Vo

[Sunlei]

A Suspected Network Of 13,000 Twitter Bots Pumped Out Pro-Brexit Messages In The Run-Up To The EU Vote

The social media giant has been urged by a senior MP to reveal what it knows about potential interference in the referendum after researchers discovered a bot network that vanished within weeks of the vote.

The research – which is published in the peer-reviewed Social Science Computer Review journal and was shared exclusively with BuzzFeed News – suggests the suspected bot accounts were eight times more likely to tweet pro-leave than pro-remain content.

"This is clearly a very serious matter, and one that must be urgently clarified," he said. "I have written to Twitter asking them to look into the bot accounts highlighted by the researchers at City University. I have specifically asked the company about the reach of the tweets, the ownership of the accounts, and who deleted the tweets.

"Any interference in the democratic process of the United Kingdom by people acting illegitimately is a serious matter, and I hope that Twitter will be able to shed some light on what is a troubling piece of research.”

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jamesball/a-suspected-network-of-13000-twitter-bots-pumped-out-pro?utm_term=.uiNL3bY0Y#.kdBgRq5G5