Meet the latest fear campaign trending on social media: #BidenBorderCrisis
The activity centered around a video, made by a organization with a history of generating misleading content
Inauthentic Activity on Social Media
Translation: We’re seeing topics like #OpenSchoolsNow, #BidenBorderCrisis, and #BodiesUnderBridges erupt in a media frenzy comprised nearly exclusively of low-quality sources and inauthentic activity.
Inauthentic accounts are those misleading about who operates the account or what the operator aims to achieve on the platform.
The behavior and structure of the network make it seem unlikely that real accounts are behind the boost to the #BidenBorderCrisis. We will report more exhaustively later this week but can share some of what we know now.
The hashtag #BidenBorderCrisis appeared to be artificially amplified by bot-like accounts. The activity centered around a video, made by a group with a history of “political spying.”
The social media activity surrounding these “breaking news” stories follows a pattern. A few accounts share polarizing, false, or misleading claims. The media is then amplified by a coordinated chorus. All of this is fortified by fake accounts and low-quality news outlets.
We would be remiss not to note that the data has a selection bias, so conclusions should be viewed with some skepticism. Stories like the ones described, particularly #bidenbordercrisis and #bodiesunderbridges, have the potential to inspire violence, something we have seen repeatedly in the US. That is why we note what appears to be an intentional effort to alarm the public.
The spread of the #BodiesUnderBridges begins with crickets. For the first couple of hours, only three users appear in the hashtag network: Benny Johnson, James O’Keefe, and Dan Rodimer. Although Twitter banned O’Keefe’s business account, his private one remains despite his repeated violations. If a provocateur aims to create the impression of censorship he or she must push the limits of a platform in order to generate either outrage at their unpunished violations or outrage that they were “censored.”
By repeatedly daring platforms by violating their terms and policies, the platforms are pressured to stop them, and the win-win for the provacaeurs in this hypothetical scenaro leave the platforms with no ideal options. Transparency would probably offer them the best choice by showing the public the way in which the system is gamed.
Our analysis shows that much like the #BidenBorderCrisis, a Project Veritas video release appeared to drive discussion but that engagement primarily came from accounts behaving in ways not seen in genuine accounts.
First there are only two messages and little else for a couple of hours. When someone interacts with the original tweets, it’s not in support. These were critics. Immediately following that, we see a frenzy of content. It’s unclear if this interaction was the trigger, something else was, or if it was a coincidence.
Investigation of the key nodes turned up accounts that are bot-like, having multiple traits associated with authenticity. A pattern of media manipulation has begun to emerge, which makes platform inaction all the more conspicuous.
We saw the same sequence of events with the “Ballot Harvesting” campaign—the same video producer, too.
Stories are published by unreliable websites using the key terms that will later be used in the media campaign.
A shocking claim or misleading video surfaces and triggers a media frenzy.
The event is manufactured, which means legitimate media won’t be prepared or have begun reporting on the subject. The only content available under the term will be that of the media manipulators — this is exploiting what is known as a data void. Bad actors can use this method to ensure their audience finds material with the chosen narrative, a practice known as seeding.
These spaces with an absence of content are called data voids. Bad actors use unique or strategic terms that have little content online. When people see the keywords trending and search for them, the media manipulator’s content will likely show up. We’ve seen it over and over.
The most famous instance revolved around the “crisis actors” claim, which now exists in most Americans’ minds. Even if you don’t believe it, it will always be there to cast doubt on the truth.
Eventually, the media has to negate the claims, but this feeds into fear and paranoia. It’s more convincing. People go to look for answers, but all they find is the content created by the people behind the story. These efforts often use propaganda tactics and can be highly effective.