Hundreds of pro-Russian “bots” are spreading false information about the Democratic candidate, Kamal Harris, in the American presidential election on X, while the platform’s boss Elon Musk had promised to get rid of these accounts.
In a study consulted by AFP and which will be published on Thursday, the American Sunlight Project (ASP) organization describes these accounts as “sleeper agents” since most have been active for several years and have escaped the platform’s moderation, bought in 2022 by billionaire Elon Musk, major supporter of former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump.
ASP analyzed more than 1,200 accounts whose profile and activity – more than 100 million posts between their creation and July 2024 – made it possible to associate them with “bots”.
Pro-Kremlin propaganda
These accounts massively distribute propaganda favorable to the Kremlin, content supporting Donald Trump and false information concerning his Democratic rival and the elections.
According to some posts, the candidate admitted that she would be a “puppet” at the mercy of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky if she were elected.
Others massively share misleading posts from Elon Musk, who claimed that the Democrats brought “illegal” migrants to the United States to manipulate the result of the next presidential election.
These posts are scattered among others on sport or cryptocurrencies to better “disguise their objectives”.
“We were not surprised to find another pro-Russian bot network but shocked to learn that some of the accounts in this network of sleeper agents have been active for more than ten years,” the co-founder of ASP Nina Jankowicz.
Former executive director of an official commission on disinformation, since deleted, she calls on X to dissolve this network. ASP was, however, unable to determine the entity behind these pro-Russian accounts.
Bots are key instruments in the Kremlin’s strategy to spread false information abroad, researchers say.
Access, now paid, to certain data on posts on X, which did not respond to requests from AFP, prevented researchers from determining its exact scope.
Before buying Twitter, which became X, Elon Musk promised “to defeat the bots or die trying”. He ultimately reduced the teams dedicated to moderation.
“Despite Elon Musk’s stated objectives to get rid of bots, they still exist on X, even when the networks are probably affiliated with states,” denounces Nina Jankowicz.
This article was automatically published. Sources: ats / afp
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