An investigation by the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Global Witness has revealed that 10 'bot-like' accounts on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, have been spreading disinformation and hate speech to a massive audience ahead of the UK General Election.
Since May 22, these accounts have collectively shared more than 60,000 posts, with an estimated 150 million views.
Spread of hate speech
Global Witness reported that many of these posts contain "extreme and violent" hate speech, disinformation and conspiracy theories.
The content includes praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin, with posts amplifying vaccine misinformation, including claims that vaccines have caused a "genocide”, along with climate-change denial, anti-semitism, racism and homophobia.
The NGO identified these bot-like accounts by examining hashtags related to migration and climate change, such as #welcomerefugees, #migration, and #stoptheboats.
Accounts were deemed 'bot-like' if they exhibited at least three 'red flags': prolific posting, handles ending in long strings of numbers, and lack of a genuine profile picture.
All 10 accounts posted frequently, with some sharing more thanb 200 posts in a single day.
Global Witness emphasised the disproportionate impact of these accounts despite their limited number.
“The number of bot-like accounts we uncovered is also limited, but they have an extremely oversized influence given how prolifically they post and the number of people who are seeing their content,” the study said.
UK politics in focus
Most of the accounts focused on UK politics, with some also targeting US politics and the UK Royal Family.
Accounts promoting the hashtag #stoptheboats encouraged votes for Reform UK, while those using #labourlosing also supported Reform UK.
One account prominently displayed both MBGA (Make Britain Great Again) and MAGA (Make America Great Again) slogans, alongside anti-migrant hashtags, reposting far-right and anti-migrant content and supporting Reform UK.
This investigation underscores the significant influence that a small number of highly active, bot-like accounts can have on public discourse and election outcomes.