Read on Twitter
/ Short thread on the link between Russia’s ongoing disinformation campaign, COVID-19, and anti-vaxxers https://twitter.com/latimes/status/1355664093215137796
In a study published in April 2020, researchers used machine learning to analyze 2.8M tweets from 2689 accounts operated by the Russian Internet Research Agency— a known troll farm:
Pro-Trump personas were more likely to express antivaccine sentiment https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305564
Pro-Trump personas were more likely to express antivaccine sentiment https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305564
Vaccine news stories hosting malware are disseminated across Spanish-language Twitter
“Russian state-sponsored media, Sputnik News, was identified as a large component of this network”
The malware is used for micro-targeting messages to individuals.
https://fas.org/blogs/fas/2020/09/vaccine-news-stories-hosting-malware-disseminated-across-spanish-language-twitter-fas-disinformation-report/
“Russian state-sponsored media, Sputnik News, was identified as a large component of this network”
The malware is used for micro-targeting messages to individuals.
https://fas.org/blogs/fas/2020/09/vaccine-news-stories-hosting-malware-disseminated-across-spanish-language-twitter-fas-disinformation-report/
Another study looked at vaccine disinformation on social media globally. They concluded that ”there is a substantial relationship between foreign disinformation campaigns and declining vaccination coverage”
IOW: it works. Also: it’s not just Russia
https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/10/e004206
IOW: it works. Also: it’s not just Russia
https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/10/e004206
Why is Russia doing this? Simply put: to avoid being left behind from an economic standpoint. https://www.politico.eu/article/covid-vaccine-disinformation-russia/
What to do? A 2018 study “Weaponized Health Communication: Twitter Bots and Russian Trolls Amplify the Vaccine Debate”
“Directly confronting vaccine skeptics enables bots to legitimize the vaccine debate”
IOW: engaging breathes life into the debate
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6137759/
“Directly confronting vaccine skeptics enables bots to legitimize the vaccine debate”
IOW: engaging breathes life into the debate
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6137759/
So, if we engaging them directly what else can we do?
Social media platforms can take a more active role in identifying COVID-19 misinformation spread by troll farms and bot accounts https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/20/859814085/researchers-nearly-half-of-accounts-tweeting-about-coronavirus-are-likely-bots
Social media platforms can take a more active role in identifying COVID-19 misinformation spread by troll farms and bot accounts https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/20/859814085/researchers-nearly-half-of-accounts-tweeting-about-coronavirus-are-likely-bots
Social media platforms can also remove botnets that seed misinformation https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/11/technology/twitter-removes-70000-qanon-accounts.html
As we saw at Dodgers Stadium: the stakes are too high to take a “wait-and-see” approach. Twitter could:
Take the measures used to combat election mis/disinformation 
apply them to #COVID19
expand @verified’s #COVID19 panel encourage accounts to submit reports
/
Take the measures used to combat election mis/disinformation apply them to #COVID19expand @verified’s #COVID19 panel encourage accounts to submit reports/
Autocorrect will be the end of me. An earlier tweet was meant to say:
* So, if we can’t engage them directly what else can we do?
Social media platforms can take a more active role in identifying COVID-19 misinformation spread by troll farms and bot accounts
* So, if we can’t engage them directly what else can we do?
Social media platforms can take a more active role in identifying COVID-19 misinformation spread by troll farms and bot accounts
