您的当前位置:首页 > 产品中心 > Twitter drops the transparency ball on Russian bot abuse 正文
时间:2024-09-23 02:32:01 来源:网络整理 编辑:产品中心
Twitter is finally following Facebook's lead and coming clean about how Russian trolls abused their
Twitter is finally following Facebook's lead and coming clean about how Russian trolls abused their platform in spreading misinformation ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. But even in transparency, Twitter is still clouding the issue by literally deleting the evidence.
SEE ALSO:Americans say social media is destroying the news — but nobody knows what to do about itIn late January, the company published a blog post detailing some of its findings on accounts run by the Russian-linked Internet Research Agency (IRA) that was responsible for many (if not most) of the malicious bot behavior across the platform. Other efforts included reaching out to Twitter users who interacted with these accounts and sharing a few examples of such content.
But.
BUT.
According to a report from NBC News, Twitter has been treating these accounts just like they treat your typical, run-of-the-mill spam accounts: by suspending them and, thus, deleting their tweets from the public view.
And that's a big problem.
While it's understandable in the case of the average spam bot, these Russian accounts are different and far more important to understanding how this political interference happened, especially because it's expected to happen again, likely in the lead-up to the November midterms.
Given that so many users interacted with these accounts (Twitter says they sent notices to 1.4 million users), it's also important for users to understand what these tweets look like and how they can discern real from fake.
That the fake @TEN_GOP account made headlines for being trolled by a user who baited Trump followers with a photo prank underscores how successful these bots can be. Beyond the Twitter-inception of a propaganda troll being trolled by a fake photo claim, that so many outlets promoted this account and many more like it in various stories (something even we were guilty of) shows how successful that 2016 operation was.
One of the tweets from the fake @TEN_GOP accountCredit: TwitterAnd we're slowly starting to see how far back these Russian efforts go, like the report of a Russian troll-led hoax in 2015 that prompted fears of the KKK at the University of Missouri following several incidents of racial tension at the school. This goes deeper than we expected and we're still finding out new tidbits all the time.
To that end, NBC News has done us a service -- one that Twitter themselves should have done -- by releasing a database of the accused Russian accounts (.csv file) and thousands of their tweets (.csv file) that have otherwise been erased from the web.
It's a valuable service that will give us the ability to see what was done before and, hopefully, help us learn what pitfalls to avoid in the future. It's just a damn shame, though not a surprise, that it's not Twitter that's sharing this resource.
Anyone that's ever had to email Twitter about some sort of controversy related to specific accounts or tweets is familiar with the standard "we do not comment on specific accounts" reply. Which is why the company has faced so much backlash about how they've handled abusive behavior, even if they've finally started to (slowly) course correct.
Tweet may have been deleted
Context is hugely important not just to understand the mistakes of the past, but to keep ourselves from making the same mistakes in the future. We can joke about how "time is a flat circle" all we want, but when there's a real chance to prevent the same errors from happening again, we have to take advantage.
And Twitter damn well has an obligation to help us face those errors and prepare for what's next.
To Russia, with Love2024-09-23 02:19
市医保局切实提高脑瘫儿童门诊康复治疗医保待遇水平2024-09-23 02:17
为获奖选手推荐就业!大学生职业生涯大赛来啦2024-09-23 01:46
青岛6月零售大数据:金银珠宝火爆 手机销售提速2024-09-23 01:45
Best Labor Day headphones deals: Apple, Bose, Beats, and more on sale2024-09-23 01:45
“空巢青年”“孤独经济” 迷你KTV受追捧2024-09-23 01:17
肇庆封开贺江碧道画廊入选广东省“交旅融合发展”十佳案例2024-09-23 01:00
鐧惧瀹炰綋浼佷笟璋冩煡锛氭渶浣庝环涓爣鍗卞杈冨ぇ 璇ユ敼浜哶涓浗灞变笢缃慱闈掑矝2024-09-23 00:46
The Eyes of Lacy2024-09-23 00:25
提供优质高效法律服务 助力民营企业复工复产2024-09-22 23:53
Discover Secret Swimming Holes and Hidden History in Crystal River, Florida2024-09-23 01:40
满满国潮范!热辣滚烫的云浮郁南非遗文化盛宴惊艳启幕2024-09-23 01:27
交通银行青岛市北三支行暖心服务送上门2024-09-23 01:18
鸽子花,“飞出”雅安绽放全球(下)2024-09-23 01:10
应对高温 户外驿站送清凉2024-09-23 01:08
鲁港两地重大合作项目在港签约 青岛4项目引资22.5亿美元2024-09-23 00:56
“共享马扎”一天丢一多半 专家:不算共享经济2024-09-23 00:50
防疫教学两手抓 生活学习两不误2024-09-23 00:36
Carbon neutrality law violates basic rights: Constitutional Court2024-09-23 00:18
闈炲叕浼佷笟绗竴瀹讹紒闈掑矝涓€浼佷笟妗堜緥琚竻鍗庡ぇ瀛?鏀惰棌2024-09-23 00:15