Researchers at the University of Southern California say they found evidence of thousands of X and Telegram accounts working together to artificially popularize right-wing narratives.
Influence groups coordinate to share specific content in order to create the appearance of widespread grassroots support for a given idea or opinion. Those artificially heightened engagement numbers then tell the social platform’s algorithm to distribute the content even more widely.
Researchers at USC Viterbi’s Information Sciences Institute (ISI) used machine learning to find such coordinated campaigns hidden within the millions of election-related accounts and posts on X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram. The AI found accounts with suspiciously similar bios and content sharing activity. In a study published late last week, they then focused on the URLs of specific shared links in order to find similar content sharing patterns by other accounts in different social networks.
Widespread on X
Within two separate studies conducted during May and June, the researchers documented 53 accounts on X that were coordinating their sharing activity. However, Emilio Ferrara, a professor at USC and ISI principal scientist, says the accounts included in the study were just the largest and most obviously coordinated. The two studies found evidence of “thousands” of coordinated accounts.
The most recent of the studies (sampled in June) revealed a network of 19 coordinated X accounts promoting content from the right-wing infotainment site Fox News. Many of the coordinated accounts shared similar profile descriptions, reflecting highly partisan narratives tied to religious and conservative principles, the researchers report. (The June research is awaiting peer review, ISI points out.)
On Telegram researchers documented 33 “highly coordinated” channels that co-shared links to content from low-credibility (as assessed by Media Bias/Fact Check) right-wing sites such as the Russian state-controlled media outlet RT.com and its video-on-demand subsidiary, Ruptly.tv; from The Gateway Pundit, a low-credibility far-right outlet; and from the extremist-friendly video platform odysee.com.
The Telegram-X connection
Such coordinated sharing of election-related stuff within a single social network isn’t new, although it may be more widespread in 2024. What’s new, Ferrara says, is the coordinated sharing of content and narratives across different major networks, in this case X and Telegram. “The largest component of the cross-platform coordination network is dominated by a mix of Telegram and Twitter accounts promoting domains such as magapac.com, QAnon-related narratives (e.g., “WWG1WGA”), and accounts with partisan bios,” the researchers write.
The researchers identified groups of influencers with audiences on both Telegram and X that act as a bridge for content between the two platforms. Ferrera says the content often starts in the fringier corners of Telegram, places where conspiracy theories and extremism flourish. “Once it’s being incubated in those fringe environments and it becomes relevant enough, the bridge . . . cross-pollinates the mainstream platform, like X, with the content,” Ferrara says.
The content that crosses over between networks is often low-credibility, right-wing, and conspiracy items. The content that crosses over most comes from The Gateway Pundit, ZeroHedge, Truth Social, New York Post, and The Epoch Times.
The May study documented a network of X accounts that uniformly shared links to a YouTube account called @MediaOpinion0, which attracted millions of views for its right-wing and pro-Trump content. They also linked to a number of websites that promoted the same videos and featured the same graphics used by the YouTube channel. The YouTube channel remains active, but appears dormant.
The studies found that coordinated accounts on Telegram were more likely to use AI-generated imagery in posts. AI image generators can be used to show Donald Trump as strong and vital, and his opponent tired, old, or weak. They also help the accounts quickly create content to scale up an influence operation, the researchers say.
The USC researchers say that 75% of the 34 highly coordinated inauthentic accounts it found on X are still active. Elon Musk fired most of X’s content moderation and integrity teams when he bought the company in 2022.
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