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Cybersecurity

Now Bots Are Trying to Help Populists Win Italy's Election

By
  • Fake Twitter accounts spring back to life before March 4 vote
  • Facebook takes out ads asking Italians to flag dubious posts
Matteo Salvini arrives for a recording of the "Otto e Mezzo" television program in Rome

Matteo Salvini arrives for a recording of the "Otto e Mezzo" television program in Rome

 Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg

Shortly after midnight on Jan. 24, the home-made device David Puente built to catch fake Twitter accounts in the act started rumbling.

In just over a minute, more than 150 users sent out the same tweet extolling Italian anti-euro populist Matteo Salvini, a contender in next month’s presidential election. It was obvious to Puente, a computer programmer, that they were bots, or automated accounts that masquerade as real people and are used increasingly as a tool to sway political opinion.