Twitter Deletes Over 10,000 Bots That Discouraged US Midterm Voting (cnn.com) 177
Twitter has deleted over 10,000 disinformation bots discouraging Americans from voting in Tuesday's midterm elections.
An anonymous reader quotes CNN: Twitter said that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had brought the accounts to their attention. "For the election this year we have established open lines of communication and direct, easy escalation paths for state election officials, DHS, and campaign organizations from both major parties," the spokesperson said. The company said it believes the network of accounts was run from the United States.
The 10,000 accounts were deleted in late September and early October, Reuters reports: The number is modest, considering that Twitter has previously deleted millions of accounts it determined were responsible for spreading misinformation in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Yet the removals represent an early win for a fledgling effort... The DCCC launched the effort this year in response to the party's inability to respond to millions of accounts on Twitter and other social media platforms that spread negative and false information about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and other party candidates in 2016, three people familiar with the operation told Reuters... The DCCC developed its own system for identifying and reporting malicious automated accounts on social media, according to the three party sources.
An anonymous reader quotes CNN: Twitter said that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had brought the accounts to their attention. "For the election this year we have established open lines of communication and direct, easy escalation paths for state election officials, DHS, and campaign organizations from both major parties," the spokesperson said. The company said it believes the network of accounts was run from the United States.
The 10,000 accounts were deleted in late September and early October, Reuters reports: The number is modest, considering that Twitter has previously deleted millions of accounts it determined were responsible for spreading misinformation in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Yet the removals represent an early win for a fledgling effort... The DCCC launched the effort this year in response to the party's inability to respond to millions of accounts on Twitter and other social media platforms that spread negative and false information about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and other party candidates in 2016, three people familiar with the operation told Reuters... The DCCC developed its own system for identifying and reporting malicious automated accounts on social media, according to the three party sources.
Follow the phone trail. (Score:4, Interesting)
Phone numbers isn't about bots. (Score:1)
It's about knowing who you are.
The powers that be cannot abide anonymity.
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Once upon a time, there was a saying about the Internet: On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog. Sometimes this was accompanied by a picture of a dog in front of a laptop and looking at the screen.
Now, an anonymous person can be someone in Dearborn, Michigan or Dallas, Texas or Kroshechnygorod in Russia or Saghirat in Saudi Arabia. Each one could claim to be American and say anything, including stuff that is designed to cause mischief and strife. And, of course, the opposite can occur too.
I guess th
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There are already web services to block disposable email domains [block-disp...-email.com]. How long before analogous services for SMS become commonplace?
Re:"Misinformation" (Score:4, Funny)
Posting the same reply I gave you last time [slashdot.org] you linked the same article, which you didn't answer. Presumably because you couldn't find a Breitbart article that had an answer and you're not capable of coming up with one by yourself.
No, they admitted under oath that their automated system deleted 48% of the tweets. Breitbart didn't omit those details, why did you?
Also, why continue to vote for the Republicans in charge of that committee who failed to do anything after Twitter admitted that? They don't advocate for you, so why do you still support them? They took the side of big business, as usual, yet I doubt you're gonna vote to remove any of them from office in 2 weeks, are yah?
Excuses (Score:2)
Posting the same reply I gave you last time [slashdot.org] you linked the same article, which you didn't answer.
It didn't merit an answer. "Automated System" is just an obvious attempt to dodge responsibility for the censorship (i.e. suppression of the hashtag), like when Youtube claims "the algorithm did it." It'll mean the same thing (i.e. nothing) when they switch to saying "the AI did it."
Their other excuse of "potential Russian links" is the same sad cover story the media desperately used in a (failed) attempt to stop people from paying attention to the content of the leak.
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Of course you think that. I just wanted you to say it.
Because your actual opinion relies on information not in the original article you linked, but actually your pre-existing conspiratorial mindset. Your source says that Twitter admitted their automated system deleted tweets. That's it.
Your opinion, however, is that they were clearly running impromptu damage control for the Democrats, because all technology companies are in the pockets of Democrats, etc. etc. However, none of that is in the article you link
Did they delete the USA Today's account? (Score:2, Interesting)
With a byline like If you have reservations, vote Democratic, vote third party, or stay home in the 2018 midterm elections [usatoday.com], I would hope the USA Today twitter account was also deleted (not holding my breath).
Re: Did they delete the USA Today's account? (Score:1)
Please do go ahead and choke yourself since you are confusing the messenger and the message.
The problem is with the former, not the latter.
Twitter doesn't care if individuals discourage voting. They do care about not systems.
Interesting (Score:1)
I can't count (AC) (Score:3)
My settings render them mostly invisible, so I can't count them, and I sort of resent the time wasted by references to and citations of the invisible trolls, whether or not they are zombies. This whole AC thing has become an abuse of anonymity. There should be a simple option: "By default my comments are AC (or not)" and you should retain the option to override. Only a slight extension from the current situation, which pushes the "not" on people who might feel otherwise in this age of privacy intrusions.
Me?
Yet Trump Remains (Score:1)
Don't like it?
Boycott Twitter, and Fox News.
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"The problem is that he points out citizens as "enemies" and when you do that to an audience of millions there will always be a bunch of nutjobs that takes him seriously."
Meh. His former opponent--a politically savvy, well-connected, well-funded, and "the most qualified candidate ever" but who still lost to a political neophyte--called millions of people "deplorable" and compared members of a civil rights group to terrorists, and once told Anderson Cooper during a CNN interview that she considered members o
There is a mountain of voter suppression (Score:1, Informative)
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going on this year. If you can't win, cheat. It works.
Good election = good candidates
Bad election = bad candidates (and may the lesser evil win)
Worst election = bad candidate lies and "wins" by destroying the good candidate
Character assassination should not be the best campaign strategy.
Perhaps our best hope for democracy right now would be the hope that November 6th is actually a 3-way election between:
(1) Democratic candidates who want government of the people, by the people, for the people
(2) "Traditional" GOP candidates who want government of the corporati
Re: There is a mountain of voter suppression (Score:4)
"Democratic candidates who want government of the people, by the people, for the people"
Whoa-ho hehehehehehe wee-hee haw haw hahahahaha! Oh my brother, that's a good one!
I'm definitely going to vote for a populist Democrat - right after I buy a bicycle for my goldfish to ride.
Public masturbation of 5464356 (Score:2)
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(1) Democratic candidates who want government of the people, by the people, for the people
Uh sorry. That's one hell of a line of bullshit, especially after all those democrat candidates ran off to big business, hollywood and so on for funding and/or how to "make a message" for their campaigns. Tell me something, how the fuck does someone in Hollywood know the message you should be taking to a farmer in Iowa? Cause that's what the dems are doing.
(2) "Traditional" GOP candidates who want government of the corporations, by the lawyers, for the richest 0.1% and
So...basically the same thing as the democrats right? Except for the candidates that aren't getting traction from those previous sources that went ru
Public masturbation of 184564 (Score:2)
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I've seen it here, in Brazil: countless disinformation campaigns (mostly via WhatsApp) leaded to Jair Bolsonaro election...
Side note (Score:5, Interesting)
In the little over an hour since this story about trolls being removed from Twitter was posted, 34 of the 38 comments posted here were from anonymous cowards, and most of those were trolling, with comments like, "only n i g g e r s use Twitter" and "go choke yourself" and "it's an attack against conservatives" and how "the bots stuff is bullshit".
I count five making the case for not voting and three others making the "both sides are trash" argument (which is also a case against voting).
You don't have to go to Twitter to see this effect in action. The problem is, it's not working as well this time around.
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In the little over an hour since this story about trolls being removed from Twitter was posted, 34 of the 38 comments posted here were from anonymous cowards, and most of those were trolling, with comments like, "only n i g g e r s use Twitter" and "go choke yourself" and "it's an attack against conservatives" and how "the bots stuff is bullshit".
To be fair, you could probably get something similar from most stories posted on Slashdot. I'm consistently amazed by the sheer amount of time that some people have to waste posting crap like that.
On a side note, get out their and vote, even if you think it's a waste or that it doesn't matter. There's a mountain of corpses strewn across history that secured your right to do so, so you may as well enjoy it while it lasts. Even if you think both sides a trash, you can still write in "Caligula's Horse" or a
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Yeah, I have definitely noticed an upsurge in troll/hatemob comments, and upvotes for same, here over the past year or so. It only affects political articles, and mostly happens in the first few hours after an article is posted. Moderation neutralizes a lot of it eventually but we're definitely under siege, and I feel like we're losing ground.
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I think we've actually passed peak troll. I believe they're learning that it's becoming less effective and they'll soon move onto something else, like shooting up syn
Re:Side note (Score:4, Insightful)
In the little over an hour since this story about trolls being removed from Twitter was posted, 34 of the 38 comments posted here were from anonymous cowards, and most of those were trolling, with comments like, "only n i g g e r s use Twitter" and "go choke yourself" and "it's an attack against conservatives" and how "the bots stuff is bullshit".
Two of those are just dumbarse AC wastes of space, a time honored Slashdot tradition. The other two are quite possibly just points of view that you don't like.
I count five making the case for not voting and three others making the "both sides are trash" argument (which is also a case against voting).
You don't have to go to Twitter to see this effect in action. The problem is, it's not working as well this time around.
Making a case for not voting, and "both sides are trash", are points of view. You don't have to like them, but that doesn't make them nefarious "voter suppression". Doesn't make them bots either.
Even directly suggesting that voting is a waste of time is just a point of view. It may or may not persuade anyone. We used to value the freedom to try to persuade each other of things. There may have even been an amendment about it. (Yes, Twitter isn't government. I'm talking about the sentiment, the valuing of that freedom.)
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And...my point is made. The prosecution rests.
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If you can still honestly say to yourself that both sides are the same, you're either being dishonest or are willfully trying to misinform people.
In either case, you are playing your role, Anonymous Coward.
Re: Side note (Score:2)
Naw brohamley, the two faces of the Establishment Party are totally different. The Republicans are a shit sandwich - whereas the Democrats are a turd baguette. The difference is huuuuuuge!
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Uh-huh.
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Opensecrets.org
Top Organizations Funding Outside Spending Groups
Rank Donor $Total $To Conservatives $To Liberals %To Conservatives %To Liberals
1 Carpenters & Joiners Union $27,702,409 $612,500 $27,079,909 2% 98%
2 American Action Network $21,949,926 $21,949,926 $0 100% 0%
3 Environment America $19,812,000 $0 $19,812,000 0% 100%
4 Senate Leadership Fund $18,697,545 $18,697,545 $0 100% 0%
5 Action Now Initiative $16,656,000 $0
My account was suspended (Score:1)
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But you acted enough like one for the trolls to detect your account and report you for suspension. Just part of their tactics for destroying rational dialogue. Longer discussion in some other story, but I don't want to repeat it here. Something about bots to report humans as bots...
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But you acted enough like one for the trolls to detect your account and report you for suspension. Just part of their tactics for destroying rational dialogue. Longer discussion in some other story, but I don't want to repeat it here. Something about bots to report humans as bots...
You mean he posted opinions that Twitter didn't approve of, so they banned his account. And you're cheering the authoritarianism of it. Thing is, they did the same thing to conservatives here in Ontario during the Doug Ford election. But those thousands of bots, all repeating the same crap and flooding candidates feeds? Those were left up, in every case the candidate was conservative.
Public masturbation of 184564 (Score:2)
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Z^-3
Must be a very tough life you lead, all those facts that get in the way with your opinions. Need a head pat?
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Z^-4
You could just change your .sig to "I am authoritarian, dissenting opinions not allowed."
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Z^-5
Bots discourage voting, how? (Score:2)
OK, I get it if some people can be mislead by a bot saying "Senator Bedfellow eats babies" but how does one get fooled into not voting by a bot saying "only idiots vote, just don't do it..." ?
Shouldn't just delete (Score:2)
politics (Score:2)
spread negative and false information
Please enable that filter globally.
90% of politicians messages will be instantly silenced. Negative and false information, about ones opponent, about opposing ideas, and about the current state of the world (to justify your new pet law) is the modus operandi of politics.
Fair play? (Score:1, Troll)
"Twitter said that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had brought the accounts to their attention."
Would they have jumped as quickly if the RNC had brought 10,000 accounts to their attention? Or would we be reading about how the RNC tried to get Twitter to censor accounts of well-meaning woke robots?
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Signed,
The Party of Personal Responsibility
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Pie R round, not square
Re: Democratic control (Score:1)
Nobody has to agree to host your racist bullshit, loser.
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People like Raenex think people who chant "Jews will not replace us" and "blood and soil" and mail pipe bombs to political opponents, and harangue people who use pizza emojis because only pedophiles use pizza emojis apparently, are a protected class unto themselves, which is why conservatives are now regarded as a laughingstock and being run out of town on a rail everywhere they go.
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Get your own platform, they said.
The democrats, progressives and authoritarians believe that this is a good idea, that it absolutely will never be used against them either. And of course, this absolutely doesn't disprove the point that there's a group of people out there who are acting in a conspiratorial manner to silence speech.
Not at all.
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The party of "science is fake but QAnon is real" sure is in a great position to mock safe spaces, huh.
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Everybody owes me a living and a safespace from opinion I don't agree with, waah waaaah waaaah!
Look you Anonymous Coward Trump voter, your dear leader has already told you the USA owes you your coal mining job, so stop whining.
Now go back to your FOX NEWS safe space and get off the internet where you might hear opposing views, you conservative snowflake.
Re: Democratic control (Score:2, Informative)
Your claims are so false, it's actually more illustrative to link a Google search instead of any one Snopes page https://www.google.com/search?q=snopes+illegal+voting&oq=snopes+illegal+voting&aqs=chrome..69i57.6253j1j7&client=ms-unknown&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8
Re: Democratic control (Score:5, Informative)
Interesting how I don't read too many stories about Republicans trying to register illegal aliens and dead people to vote yet every 2 years it happens in Chicago, California, Detroit.
Funny how you don't read stories like this one [charlotteobserver.com] then.
Meanwhile, your claims of dead people being registered to vote are as bogus as the claims about busloads of illegal voters.
How do we know? Because we found out they lived. [kansas.com]
Legit question for you AC- are there any legit reasons to try to suppress voter fraud? And I mean the real fraud committed by people, not the mysterious claims of machines miscounting their votes.
Flawed vote counting is actually a good concern. Why exclude it?
But here's your problem. They aren't trying to suppress voter fraud. By their own documented admission, they are trying to gain partisan advantages by suppressing the actual voter participation.
A common theme in American history. And all the false hysteria that are the mantra of the Kobach's and O'Keefe's of the world only further serves to weigh against the GOP.
Sir, the living dead have feelings too! (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously though, Voter fraud is a red herring to distract from Voter Suppression. Jury Duty, Voting on Tuesday, disenfranchising felons (and making it impossible for them to get their rights back), the constant voter roll purges (targeted at left leaning voters) and my personal favorite stationing armed police in riot gear outside polls in predominately black neighborhoods to "keep order". Heck, there's been a few instances of people being prosecuted and jailed for "voter fraud" because they helped an elderly relative who couldn't see vote, which is in itself suppression (don't vote or we'll throw you in prison).
This stuff works, especially in a country with such slim margins of victory. Trump one the Whitehouse by a few hundred thousand votes.
Re: Sir, the living dead have feelings too! (Score:3)
There's no need for clumsy shit like voter registration fraud, when computerized voting has enabled widespread election fraud.
They actually can't get away with that often (Score:3)
Re: Sir, the living dead have feelings too! (Score:1)
They have lines to vote in USA? People say us British like queueing but I've never had to. Walk 5 minutes from my house to the local polling station, talk to one of the free workers, get my form go to one of the free booths, make a mark and drop it in the box then leave, and if I want tell one of the party activists that I have voted. Total time 10 minutes on my way to work. Of course they get us to vote on very few direct democracy questions and when we do we screw the country...
Re: Sir, the living dead have feelings too! (Score:1)
Voter suppression? Are you talking about requirement that you have an ID to vote - a practice so wide spread that the US is considered backwater by places like India for NOT having it?
Good luck convincing people to let you issue a national ID when you're creating false hysterics about hunting licenses in order to ignore actual voter suppression.
It isn't like states such as North Caroina and Pennsylvania have lost on court over their failure to issue ID, and others have documented problems with rampant gerrymandering.
You've got to complain about something that isn't really a meaningful problem.
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they are trying to gain partisan advantages [..] false hysteria
You mean like this [washingtontimes.com]?
"The Texas Democratic Party asked non-citizens to register to vote, sending out applications to immigrants with the box citizenship already checked "Yes," according to new complaints filed Thursday asking prosecutors to see what laws may have been broken.
The Public Interest Legal Foundation alerted district attorneys and the federal Justice Department to the pre-checked applications, and also included a signed affidavit from a man who said some of his relatives, who aren't citizens, recei
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Let's see a more balanced version of the story [newsweek.com] (ever since reporters at the Washington Times called me an idiot for supporting Obamacare, I have dismissed them as angry, hateful partisan hacks):
Re: Democratic control (Score:2, Insightful)
Yeah and for some goddamn reason the Republicans haven't been able to JACK SHIT to curb illegal immigration despite having several opportunities over the years to do so.
Republican majority in House? Check.
Republican majority in Senate? Check.
Republican president? Check.
And not a single comprehensive immigration reform law has been passed.
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You need 60 votes to break a filibuster on an immigration bill. The Democrats have gone all-in as the party of illegal immigration.
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I hate to disagree with you here, but the Republicans controlling the senate can kill the filabuster any time they want. Had I been in charge of the senate the first thing I would have done was kill the closure requirement. The Democrats did it to get there way when they controlled the senate and actions should have consequences. When the Democrats decided to overturn Senate rules that had existed since the time of Jefferson because they couldn't get their way why should the Republicans continue to operate
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I guess you're talking about the "nuclear option" that the Democrats used to appoint judges. The Republicans returned the favor with the Supreme Court nomination.
As for completely ending the filibuster, maybe their ulterior motive is to keep voting issues alive, or maybe they like keeping the majority party in check via tradition. Not being privy to their thoughts or private conversations, I don't know what their thinking is, but I tend to agree, I'd be inclined to end the filibuster too.
That said, even wit
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Interesting how all the voter supression and election fraud comes from the Republicans.
Nope. According to The New York Times [nytimes.com],
The North Dakota Democratic Party posted a misleading ad on its website and on Facebook that suggests state residents should reconsider voting in this year's election if they have hunting licenses in other states. .
. .
A look at the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party's claim:
CLAIM: "By voting in North Dakota, you could forfeit your hunting licenses." - posted on the Democratic party's website this week.
THE FACTS: The ad is false.
Re:Democratic control (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Democratic control (Score:5, Insightful)
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that [factcheck.org] is [politifact.com] complete [slate.com] bullshit [huffingtonpost.com].
I am not going to waste any time refuting the rest of your Gish gallop. Your claim that illegal voters were bused in has no basis in fact, so you obviously have no concern about objective truth or fact.