Bot-like accounts on X spreading US political conspiracies: Watchdog

According to a watchdog investigation, bot-like profiles on social media platform X that disseminated disinformation and hatred during the UK election are now fueling conspiracy theories about US politics as the fight for the White House intensifies.


Global Witness evaluated 45 accounts that generated more than four billion impressions since late May and were active in the run-up to the British polls earlier this month.

Some of them then shifted their focus to other high-profile events leading up to the November US presidential election, including Donald Trump’s recent assassination attempt and President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race, according to the watchdog.

The data show how apparent bot activity continues to plague X, formerly known as Twitter, despite Elon Musk’s pledges to fight down on digital manipulation when he purchased the prominent social media network for $44 billion in 2022.

The bot-like accounts, which generated approximately 610,000 postings and reinforced racist and sexualized abuse, also targeted climate disinformation and other global events, such as anti-migrant riots in Ireland.

“In a moment when everyone is worried about democracy, it is shocking how easy it has been to find accounts that appear to be bots spreading division around the UK vote, and then to watch them jump straight into political discussions in the US and Ireland, frequently responding with hate and conspiracy,” said Ava Lee, Global Witness’s campaign manager.

“Access to timely, accurate and reliable information is crucial for all democracies, and it’s needed now more than ever in the run up to the US presidential election.”

The platform did not respond to AFP’s request for comments.

An automatic answer from the platform’s press team read: “We’re busy right now; please check back later.”

It was unclear who was behind the bot-like activity discovered by the watchdog.

Global Witness stated that it found no evidence that any British political parties paid for, used, or promoted bot-like accounts as part of their campaigns.

Following Trump’s assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally earlier this month, the watchdog discovered that some accounts that formerly supported the right-wing party Reform UK were promoting bogus hypotheses holding Biden accountable.

Other reports supporting the British Labour Party questioned whether Trump faked the incident, it continued.

After Biden announced his withdrawal from the race, several accounts intensified their talks of US Vice President Kamala Harris, the expected Democratic contender, including spreading “gendered disinformation tropes” and racist remarks, according to the research.

Before purchasing the platform, Musk promised to “defeat the spam bots or die trying.”

However, bot activity remains prevalent on the platform, according to a paper published last year by Australia’s Queensland University of Technology (QUT) based on an investigation of about one million posts.

“X is flooded with platform manipulation of various kinds, is not doing enough to moderate content, and has no clear strategy for dealing with political disinformation,” according to the QUT study.

Lee, citing Global Witness’ findings, urged X to “increase its moderation efforts and get better at enforcing its own policies against inauthentic activity.”


“We’re relying on them to protect our democracies from interference,” Lee told the audience.

The platform has eliminated trust and safety teams and reduced content filtering efforts that were originally used to combat misinformation, resulting in what experts describe a refuge for disinformation.

Last week, Musk, who had endorsed Trump, drew a barrage of criticism for uploading a deepfake video featuring Harris on X, which tech campaigners claimed broke the platform’s regulations.