Trollbot Explosions Tracked Across Course Of Democratic Climate Debate

[hatrack]

CNN's seven-hour climate change town hall for presidential candidates was not a TV ratings bonanza, but it set off a marked surge of activity on Twitter aimed at ridiculing the Democrats and dismissing the science.

"Climate change" became the top two-word trending topic on Twitter for several hours after the event among the accounts being tracked by Bot Sentinel, a free platform designed to track what it considers untrustworthy or automated accounts. It was quite an unusual feat for the topic to beat out—even temporarily—the phrase that sits almost constantly atop the trending list for accounts on Bot Sentinel's watchlist: "President Trump."

Scientists, activists and politicians who are engaged in climate policy say they are being besieged by a surge of online attacks. It is difficult to divine whether the bursts of "climate change"-related Twitter activity are spontaneous or part of coordinated campaigns; some experts say that likely a small number of influencers are touching off postings by a far larger number of followers. But in a post-2016 world that is keenly aware of the role that social media played in the election of Donald Trump, the targets of climate attacks are concerned about the potential for online onslaughts to manipulate opinion and neutralize growing public support for climate action.

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Following the CNN climate forum, for example, many accounts began sharing video clip montages of the event edited together by Trump's re-election campaign and by the far-right web outlet the Gateway Pundit to portray the candidates in the worst possible light. "Democrat #Socialists want to ban: - everything made from plastic - red meat - nuclear power...I don't think even Venezuelans have ever been this brainwashed!" commented @Condor_Law, an account rated "alarming" by Bot Sentinel—84 percent of its posts exhibit patterns that match the activity of trollbots (spreading information from sites known to be unreliable or violating Twitters terms of service and doing so repetitively.) "The Dems position is ban straws, portion our meat, take our guns, take our cars, abort on a massive scale for population control, and all so we can die from climate change in 11 years!!" another accounted rated "alarming," @JenniferKrist28, chimed in.

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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16092019/trollbot-twitter-climate-change-attacks-disinformation-campaign-mann-mckenna-greta-targeted

[dewsgirl]

1. I have the feeling what we will see over the next couple

Of days will surpass even this. It started last night.

[hatrack]

2. Oh, and just wait for a year from now, assuming that Shitstain remains

.

[dewsgirl]

3. There was a time I was being followed by multiple Turkish

Twitter followers a day, I never followed back and if they spoke no English I often blocked them. I wondered if they were collecting resistance accounts for the future?
I have heard it's not just Russia, but also Saudi Arabia running troll farms. I also wouldn't count out North Korea.