Can Twitter bots help politicians?

What is it about?

To answer this question, this article examines an unexpected event: the cancellation of thousands of Twitter bot accounts in 2013 which were programmed to help the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro. The accounts cancelled were automated to retweet all of his messages. After the accounts were closed, people on the social media platform became more willing to criticize the president and to support the opposition.

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Photo by George Pagan III on Unsplash

Photo by George Pagan III on Unsplash

Why is it important?

There are many discussions on media about how governments engage in manipulative online campaigns for political ends, but whether these campaigns actually work is less clear. The study presents evidence that, at least in some circumstances, these campaigns can help politicians by silencing dissent.