Cybersecurity
Now Bots Are Trying to Help Populists Win Italy's Election
- 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
Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
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.