How are automated social media bots manipulating our political discourse? In episode 91, Emilio Ferrara from the University of Southern California discusses his research into bots' amplification of conspiracies theories across more than 240 million tweets regarding the 2020 U.S. presidential election. His open-access article "Characterizing social media manipulation in the 2020 U.S. presidential election,” was published in  with Herbert Chang, Emily Chen, Goran Muric, and Jaimin Patel in the University of Illinois at Chicago’s journal First Monday.

Bots' Meddling in the 2020 Presidential Election - Emilio FerraraBots' Meddling in the 2020 Presidential Election - Emilio FerraraBots' Meddling in the 2020 Presidential Election - Emilio Ferrara Bots' Meddling in the 2020 Presidential Election - Emilio FerraraBots' Meddling in the 2020 Presidential Election - Emilio FerraraBots' Meddling in the 2020 Presidential Election - Emilio Ferrara {{svg_share_icon}}Click bottom of waveform to add your commentsSubscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | RSS jQuery(document).ready(function ($){var settings_ap7675 = { design_skin: "skin-wave" ,autoplay: "off",disable_volume:"default" ,loop:"off" ,cue: "on" ,embedded: "off" ,preload_method:"metadata" ,design_animateplaypause:"default" ,skinwave_dynamicwaves:"off" ,skinwave_enableSpectrum:"off" ,skinwave_enableReflect:"on",playfrom:"off",default_volume:"default",disable_scrub:"off",soundcloud_apikey:"" ,skinwave_comments_enable:"on",settings_php_handler:window.ajaxurl,skinwave_mode:"alternate",skinwave_wave_mode:"canvas",pcm_data_try_to_generate: "on","pcm_notice": "off","notice_no_media": "on",design_color_bg: "111111",design_color_highlight: "FF4C65",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_number: "3",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_padding: "1",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_reflection_size: "0.25",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_mode:"normal",preview_on_hover:"off",skinwave_comments_playerid:"7675",embed_code:"<iframe src='https://www.parsingscience.org?action=embed_zoomsounds&type=player&margs=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%3D' style='overflow:hidden; transition: height 0.3s ease-out;' width='100%' height='152' scrolling='no' frameborder='0'></iframe>"

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Websites and other resources











Emilio's website and Twitter

MIT Technology Review article on Emilio's Botometer

Figure 12: Proportion of users using QAnon hashtags and mean botscore for each news outlet, dot size indicates relative number of tweets.













Indiana University's Hoaxy, a tool to visualize claims and fact-checking

Detecting social bots (2016):









https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lyU7J3TalY

 



 

Select media and press

 

Nature | New York Times | USA Today | ScienMag | phys.org | Eurekalert | Defense One

 



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Bonus Clips





Clips available include ...