On Friday, May 24, according to a report released by an Israeli technology company, Reuters reported that the number of fake accounts related to the U.S. presidential election on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) is increasing rapidly.
Based on posts published by X platform from March 1 over a two-month period, analysts at the Israeli cybersecurity company Cyabra found that many accounts praising or criticizing the two 2024 U.S. presidential candidates, Trump and Biden, are fake.
There were a total of 94,363 accounts supporting Trump, of which 12,391 were identified as fake, accounting for 13%; while there were 10,065 accounts supporting Biden, with 803 identified as fake, making up 8%.
The analysis also revealed that the newly discovered fake accounts had increased tenfold between March and April.
The report did not specify the individuals or groups behind the surge in fake accounts during the election year.
Rafi Mendelsohn, Vice President of Cyabra, stated that this scale of operation was aimed at “changing people’s views” with “sinister purposes.”
Cyabra reviewed posts about the two candidates from March and April, analyzing popular tags and determining whether the posts were positive, negative, or neutral based on their content.
Elon Musk, the owner of X, posted on April 4 on the platform that the system was “clearing out bots and online naval forces,” promising to track down those responsible and take legal action against them.
Senior officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned in early May that foreign adversaries such as China, Russia, and Iran were intensifying efforts to influence the 2024 U.S. election using artificial intelligence (AI).
The official emphasized that China, in particular, was keen on expanding its influence through creating fake social media accounts to “drive narratives and sow division.”