Russian bots push pro-gun angle after Parkland shooting

[Mormolyce]

PRO-GUN RUSSIAN BOTS FLOOD TWITTER AFTER PARKLAND SHOOTING

EACH NEW BREAKING news situation is an opportunity for trolls to grab attention, provoke emotions, and spread propaganda. The Russian government knows this. Fake-news manufacturing teenagers in Macedonia know this. Twitter bot creators know this. And thanks to data-gathering operations from groups like the Alliance for Securing Democracy and RoBhat Labs, the world knows this.

In the wake of Wednesday’s Parkland, Florida school shooting, which resulted in 17 deaths, troll and bot-tracking sites reported an immediate uptick in related tweets from political propaganda bots and Russia-linked Twitter accounts. Hamilton 68, a website created by Alliance for Securing Democracy, tracks Twitter activity from accounts it has identified as linked to Russian influence campaigns. As of morning, shooting-related terms dominated the site’s trending hashtags and topics, including Parkland, guncontrolnow, Florida, guncontrol, and Nikolas Cruz, the name of the alleged shooter. Popular trending topics among the bot network include shooter, NRA, shooting, Nikolas, Florida, and teacher.

On RoBhat Labs' Botcheck.me, a website created by two Berkeley students to track 1500 political propaganda bots, all of the top two-word phrases used in the last 24 hours—excluding President Trump's name—are related to the tragedy: School shooting, gun control, high school, Florida school. The top hashtags from the last 24 hours include Parkland, guncontrol, and guncontrolnow.

Ash Bhat, one of the project’s creators, says the bots are able to respond quickly to breaking news because they’re ultimately controlled by humans. In contrast to the Russia-affiliated Hamilton 68 bots, Bhat would not speculate on who is behind the bots that RoBhat Labs tracks. In some cases, the bot creators come up with hashtags, and use their bots to amplify them until they’re adopted by human users. “Over time the hashtag moves out of the bot network to the general public,” he says. Once a hashtag is widely adopted by real users, it’s difficult for Twitter to police, Bhat says. RoBhat Labs’ data shows this happened with the hashtag MemoDay, which bubbled up when House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes’ controversial memo was released.

In other cases, the bots jump on existing hashtags to take control of the conversation and amplify a message. That’s likely what is happening with the Parkland shooting and the hashtag guncontrolnow, Bhat says.

While RoBhat Labs tracks general political bots, Hamilton 68 focuses specifically on those linked to the Russian government. According to the group's data, the top link shared by Russia-linked accounts in the last 48 hours is a 2014 Politifact article that looks critically at a statistic cited by pro-gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety. Twitter accounts tracked by the group have used the old link to try to debunk today’s stats about the frequency of school shootings.

Another top link shared by the network covers the “deranged” Instagram account of the shooter, showing images of him holding guns and knives, wearing army hats, and a screenshot of a Google search of the phrase “Allahu Akbar.” Characterizing shooters as deranged lone wolves with potential terrorist connections is a popular strategy of pro-gun groups because of the implication that new gun laws could not have prevented their actions. On Thursday President Trump tweeted as much: “So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior.”

Meanwhile, some accounts with large bot followings are already spreading misinformation about the shooter's ties to far-left group Antifa, even though the Associated Press reported that he was a member of a local white nationalist group. The Twitter account Education4Libs, which RoBhat Labs shows is one among the top accounts tweeted at by bots, is among the prominent disseminators of that idea:

Bret Schafer, a research analyst with the Alliance for Securing Democracy, says the spike in shooting-related posts from Russia-linked bots is in line with what his group observed after last year's shootings in Las Vegas and Texas. The Russia-linked bots weigh in on any attention-grabbing news event, but seize on shootings particularly. "Because of the politicized nature of them, they are perfect fodder to take an extreme position and start spreading memes that have a very distinct political position on gun control," he says.

The use of pro-gun control hashtags like #guncontrolnow, along with the spread of anti-gun control links like the Politifact article, appear at first to show the Russian strategy of promoting discord on both sides of a debate. Russian-linked Twitter accounts have attempted to spread confusion and angst on topics ranging from police violence against black people, to NFL player protests, to Al Franken’s sexual misconduct accusations. (On other topics, like special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russia's attempts to influence the 2016 election, the bots have worked in concert to further the Kremlin's agenda.)

But in this case, Schafer suspects the use of pro-gun control hashtags like #guncontrolnow are being used sarcastically, particularly since they're often paired with the anti-gun control links. Since the Twitter accounts Hamilton 68 tracks often target right-wing audiences, Schafer believes the trolls are using the message to attract more eyeballs. "That allows them to then push content that is more directly related to the Kremlin’s geopolitical agenda," such as the Nunes memo, he says. "I don’t think the Kremlin cares one way or another whether we enact stricter gun control laws," he adds. "It's just being used as bait, basically."

Public awareness that antagonistic bots flood the Twitter debate hasn’t stopped them from achieving their goals of ratcheting up the vitriol—even amid a live tragedy like the Parkland shooting. The goal, after all, isn't to help one side or the other of the gun control debate win. It's to amplify the loudest voices in that fight, deepening the divisions between us.

Troll Takeover
Recently, the Hamilton 68 network also surged to push for Robert Mueller's ouster
And they helped amplify the Devin Nunes #ReleaseTheMemo campaign to the point that the memo was released
Here's a deeper look at Ash Bhat's efforts to identify bots on Twitter—and the harm they can do

https://www.wired.com/story/pro-gun-...land-shooting/

In another astonishing coincidence, Russian troll farms and social media bots push the exact same line as the far right. Again.

Gee I wonder why.

[Fincayra]

https://www.wired.com/story/pro-gun-...land-shooting/

In another astonishing coincidence, Russian troll farms and social media bots push the exact same line as the far right. Again.

Gee I wonder why.

It's almost the same coincidence as the left pushing gun control right after a shooting as if it's going to actually do anything.

[Super Kami Dende]

Everyone I disagree with is Hitler White Supremacist Russian Bots.

[Vankrys]

Why the fuck doesn't twitter actually do something about these bot accounts? I find it odd that they'll go after right leaning posters but don't seem to do shit about a much bigger problem.

In the age of internet and social media, you can't really fight efficiently against propaganda or information warfare, you have to live with it. It's the name of the game in our society today, the price we pay for technological advancement and freedom.

The best way to minimize the influence of these internet trolls is to educate people, to teach critical thinking, how to discerne false informations, how to cross reference multiple sources before making your mind.

Sadly, with a president constantly attacking the press, and a less than perfect education system, your country has provided ideal conditions for those trolls to proliferate.

- - - Updated - - -

Everyone I disagree with is Hitler White Supremacist Russian Bots.

Are you saying that Wired didn't do due diligence and falsely associate this particular tweeter account with Russia? Do you know something Wired doesn't? Why don't you provide hard evidence in that case, rather than grand standing rhetoric that aren't really useful.

[Mormolyce]

Everyone I disagree with is Hitler White Supremacist Russian Bots.

Sorry sweetie, there's proof. I'm afraid that's a bit of a turd in your nice warm denial jacuzzi.

[PACOX]

SIgh, here we go with the Right claiming that the bots are a myth...If someone really wanted to damage your platform wouldn't they pretend that the bots were real? Why try to discredit the bots when you could use them to make false accusations against your opponent?

[Deleted]

Why the fuck doesn't twitter actually do something about these bot accounts? I find it odd that they'll go after right leaning posters but don't seem to do shit about a much bigger problem.

because twitter and facebook are keen not to face any regulation and the gov. wont do anything about it because they are 200 years old geratrics who can barely use computers beyond online bingo.

Its not as if Russia are the only ones with bots. America has them, Israel has them (make a thread about palastinian opression even on this forus and watch accounts who only post in israel theads pop up with the party fucking line). China has them etc.

And Facebook and twitter have no interest in facing the fact 15%ish of thier users are bots, because it affects thier bottom line knowing that alot of the data they sell is garbage.

[Ghostpanther]

Ah, the stock answer of the moron. Kudos.

And I think I have you tagged right! Lol. Ignore inc. Ha!

[zorkuus]

Ya, how dare anyone talk about gun control after kids are murdered.

It's not the time for it. And since these happen on a daily basis, apparently it's never the time.

[Mayia]

Everyone I disagree with is Hitler White Supremacist Russian Bots.

This guy has it down, lefties always crying bout somebody keeping them from fixing the world if only we'd let them ban everything they dont like.

[Seethe]

Why the fuck doesn't twitter actually do something about these bot accounts? I find it odd that they'll go after right leaning posters but don't seem to do shit about a much bigger problem.

Often times they dismiss them as bots and think people actually fact check. Humans are dumb.

[Milchshake]

https://www.wired.com/story/pro-gun-...land-shooting/

In another astonishing coincidence, Russian troll farms and social media bots push the exact same line as the far right. Again.

Gee I wonder why.

Well Conservatives are tied at the hip to these Russia bots. Fuck look at all these canned responses and its not even page 2.

[Uoyredrum]

This guy has it down, lefties always crying bout somebody keeping them from fixing the world if only we'd let them ban everything they dont like.

I don't think anyone sane is asking for a gun ban, they want common sense gun regulation. I love guns, I'm pro 2nd amendment, but even I think we are LONG past due for more regulation. People just keep falling for the NRA's nonsense hook, line and sinker. I don't think stopping people who are mentally ill from obtaining guns or having stricter background checks is asking too much at all, especially with everything that's happened in the past year.

[Mormolyce]

This guy has it down, lefties always crying bout somebody keeping them from fixing the world if only we'd let them ban everything they dont like.

Like murdering children? Ha, pussies!

[Travis B]

It's almost the same coincidence as the left pushing gun control right after a shooting as if it's going to actually do anything.

Yeah, the fact that gun control works in nearly every other developed country is just a huge coincidence.

[Moralgy]

This guy has it down, lefties always crying bout somebody keeping them from fixing the world if only we'd let them ban everything they dont like.

"Lefties" are looking for a full gun ban? Since when is this a big movement on the "left"? The most you ever get on a large scale is stricter regulations via background checks and keeping guns out of the hands of mentally ill people.

[Varitok]

Hundreds of kids will be shot to death every year but nah, its not the time for discussion. In fact, lets lessen the restrictions on the mentally ill acquiring guns! That will fix it! NRA does nothing but profit off terror. They don't care that kids die, in fact it increases their bottom line so they are banking on it, under the guise of second amendment rights. Fucking scumbags.

[Deleted]

It's a sad day in America when Russian bots are doing more to fight for your freedoms.

[zorkuus]

"Lefties" are looking for a full gun ban? Since when is this a big movement on the "left"?

They have to push the strawman angle because they have nothing on the real arguments.

[Everwake]

Sheep that graze on twitter to feed their brains deserve all the misinformation they receive.