Middle East Twitter bots and the covid-19 infodemic.

Alexei Abrahams; Noura Aljizawi

Middle East Twitter bots and the covid-19 infodemic.

Alexei Abrahams
, Noura Aljizawi

University of Toronto

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

Abstract

Misinformation is often found to be propagated by coordinated networks of accounts (‘bots’, ‘sockpuppets’). We looked for such networks on Middle East Twitter by following 149 search filters related to covid-19 during March-April, 2020. Contrary to the hype, the share of plausible bots ran on the order of 4-7% per filter, comparable to pre-covid-19 rates. Leveraging contextual knowledge, we inspected two Arabic and one Persian networks more closely. We found reasons to doubt their
inauthenticity, and scant evidence of misinformation. We conjecture that fears of Twitter being overrun by misinformative bot armies may be overblown, at least on Middle East filters during the covid-19 ‘infodemic’.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Workshop Proceedings of the 14th International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media
Subtitle of host publication	Workshop on Cyber Social Threats (CySoc 2020)
Number of pages	8
Publication status	Published - 5 Jun 2020
Externally published	Yes

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@inproceedings{ee3ff8048ab444e8a8e70cf5c6ab6509,

title = "Middle East Twitter bots and the covid-19 infodemic.",

abstract = "Misinformation is often found to be propagated by coordinated networks of accounts ({\textquoteleft}bots{\textquoteright}, {\textquoteleft}sockpuppets{\textquoteright}). We looked for such networks on Middle East Twitter by following 149 search filters related to covid-19 during March-April, 2020. Contrary to the hype, the share of plausible bots ran on the order of 4-7\% per filter, comparable to pre-covid-19 rates. Leveraging contextual knowledge, we inspected two Arabic and one Persian networks more closely. We found reasons to doubt their inauthenticity, and scant evidence of misinformation. We conjecture that fears of Twitter being overrun by misinformative bot armies may be overblown, at least on Middle East filters during the covid-19 {\textquoteleft}infodemic{\textquoteright}. ",

author = "Alexei Abrahams and Noura Aljizawi",

note = "Cited By (since 2020): 6 M1 - Query date: 2026-08-04 22:04:43 M1 - 6 cites: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?oi=bibs\&hl=en\&cites=7528543703770328133",

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AU - Abrahams, Alexei

AU - Aljizawi, Noura

N1 - Cited By (since 2020): 6 M1 - Query date: 2026-08-04 22:04:43 M1 - 6 cites: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?oi=bibs&hl=en&cites=7528543703770328133

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N2 - Misinformation is often found to be propagated by coordinated networks of accounts (‘bots’, ‘sockpuppets’). We looked for such networks on Middle East Twitter by following 149 search filters related to covid-19 during March-April, 2020. Contrary to the hype, the share of plausible bots ran on the order of 4-7% per filter, comparable to pre-covid-19 rates. Leveraging contextual knowledge, we inspected two Arabic and one Persian networks more closely. We found reasons to doubt their inauthenticity, and scant evidence of misinformation. We conjecture that fears of Twitter being overrun by misinformative bot armies may be overblown, at least on Middle East filters during the covid-19 ‘infodemic’.

AB - Misinformation is often found to be propagated by coordinated networks of accounts (‘bots’, ‘sockpuppets’). We looked for such networks on Middle East Twitter by following 149 search filters related to covid-19 during March-April, 2020. Contrary to the hype, the share of plausible bots ran on the order of 4-7% per filter, comparable to pre-covid-19 rates. Leveraging contextual knowledge, we inspected two Arabic and one Persian networks more closely. We found reasons to doubt their inauthenticity, and scant evidence of misinformation. We conjecture that fears of Twitter being overrun by misinformative bot armies may be overblown, at least on Middle East filters during the covid-19 ‘infodemic’.

M3 - Conference contribution

BT - Workshop Proceedings of the 14th International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media

ER -

Middle East Twitter bots and the covid-19 infodemic.

Abstract

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