Brexit hashtab6/28/2023 Hashtags aren’t always used as a supportive device – a tweet that includes #GrassrootsOut, for example, might not necessarily endorse the movement. To measure resonance, the content of tweets must be taken into consideration it is not just a numbers game. There’s even the somewhat clunky #brout and #brin, as well as whimsical phrases like #brexitandchill and #remainandgain. Virtually all synonyms of “Remain” and “Leave” – from #britin and #britexit to #votin and #voteout – have been used. As such, we will continue to support formal investigations by government authorities into election interference as required.Twitter was always going to be a major battleground in the EU referendum but the sheer number of hashtags being used in the debate has been surprising.īoth sides are linguistically inventive: for every pro-Leave hashtag, there’s a pro-Remain equivalent. The company wouldn't comment on individual accounts, but a spokesman said: "Twitter recognises that the integrity of the election process itself is integral to the health of a democracy. Just because the tweets are on the platform doesn't mean the bulk of users actually see them. Sources close to Twitter pointed out the firm has done considerable work in filtering out "low-quality" accounts and tweets. And if a person knows exactly how to use bots they could - I couldn't say easily - possibly use them to influence people." "That was very interesting and shocking for us. "What we actually analyse and observe is that bots know how to pull the strings, they know how to manipulate people," she said. What is particularly alarming, she added, was that bots were upending the idea that the internet could make people better informed. Asked whether she would likely carry out a similar study, she said: "I would say yes." Pham said she had gathered data to replicate the research for the UK's 2017 general election. During those four days of activity, variously claimed to be "a brown non-Brit," "a Dutchman" and "of Scottish heritage." There are other clues that the account is not genuine. Business Insider asked whether they were a real person, but whoever is behind the account did not respond. This effectively amounts to a tweet on the hour, every hour over four days - not impossible, but highly improbable taking into account factors like sleep. There had also been a story from The Daily Express that refugees in the Calais "Jungle" camp had attempted to jump onto a lorry and cross the border from France into the UK.Īnd one tweet where the account accused US-based British comedian John Oliver of propaganda read: "saw john oliver propaganda video can say he is been paid handsomely for all the crap he vomited in the video."īusiness Insider saw only a sample of tweets between June 20 and June 24 - the immediate run-up and aftermath to Brexit. Here's another sample tweet, provided by Pham: "these are not peaceful refugees they are violent invaders #calais." The tweet was sent on 22 June 2016 - one day before the EU referendum vote. This Twitter account was identified by researchers as a possible Russian bot. The account remains active, but is labelled by Twitter as "temporarily restricted" due to unusual activity. Tho Pham, PhD candidate at Swansea University, identified as "one of the most active accounts" in an email to Business Insider. And their habit of posting hundreds of tweets in a day suggested they were bots. But they identified thousands of Russian bot accounts through the fact the accounts set their language description to Russian, not English. The idea was to examine social media sentiment around major political events, so not all were bots. The researchers collated data by collecting 28.6 million tweets tagged with the #Brexit hashtag between and 17 August 2016. Their wider research found 150,000 Russian-linked accounts and 45,000 messages sent on Twitter during Brexit. was identified by researchers at Swansea University and Berkeley, California as being a possible Russian bot operating on Twitter during Brexit and the US presidential election.Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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