Technology Today

Image copyrightGetty ImagesA study by researchers at Brown University has found a quarter of posts about climate change on Twitter were written by bots.Bots are computer programs that can masquerade as humans to post or send messages on social media.Researchers discovered tweets posted by bots created the impression there was a high level of climate change denial.The paper detailing the finds has not yet been published and was first reported by The Guardian newspaper.The research team analysed 6.5 million tweets from the period surrounding President Donald Trump's June 2017 announcement that he was removing the United States from the Paris climate accord.The finding showed 25% of tweets on climate change were likely posted by bots.
Most of those tweets centred on denials of global warming or rejections of climate science."These findings suggest a substantial impact of mechanized bots in amplifying denials messages about climate change," the authors of the reporter wrote, according to The Guardian.
Bots are automated to post or send messages but they must be set up by a human.
The Brown University team could not identify who was behind these climate change denying bots.
Bots for both sidesResearchers used a tool from Indiana University called Botometer to determine the probability that a tweet was sent by bots or by humans.
Within the overarching topic of climate change, they also broke down several subcategories.Tweets about "fake science" were found to have been written by bots 38% of the time and 28% of tweets about oil company Exxon were posted by bots.Posts in support of action to protect the environment were far less likely to come from bots.
Researchers found only 5% of tweets advocating such action came from this type of software.Emilio Ferrara, a research professor at the University of Southern California - who has conducted his own research on the influence of bots - explained this type of software is used to amplify a message."Think of a bot as a megaphone," Professor Ferrara said."Bots give the impression that there is organic support behind a movement or idea."Paris climate accord During the days directly surrounding President Trump's announcement that the US was leaving the Paris agreement, there was a general increase in the number of posts about climate change.
This included the number of posts by bots - they rose from hundreds per day to more than 25,000 per days.But because more humans were also posting about climate change during this period the percentage of bot posts was reduced.
They made up just 13% of all posts during that time.Though the Brown University study was unable to identify who set up the bots, Professor Ferrara, from USC, said there is cause for concern."If someone is manipulating the messages that we consumer online then there is a reason to be concerned that they are changing people's perceptions or beliefs," he told the TheIndianSubcontinent.





Unlimited Portal Access + Monthly Magazine - 12 issues


Contribute US to Start Broadcasting - It's Voluntary!


ADVERTISE


Merchandise (Peace Series)

 


Apple fans rushing for ₤ 35 iPhone 16 Pro Max as Sky uses payday deal


'I visited Chinese city which is like sci-fi movie with robots and noiseless trains'


Top Tech: Amazon's best early Prime Day deals including Ring, Tefal and Nespresso


Brits now 'obsessed' with health tracking and say it's key to motivation


Virgin Media is distributing complimentary wise TVs in surprise seven-day sale


O2 confirms UK network switch off and the exact date your phone might quit working


Samsung and Google have a new Android competitor that's like Nothing you've seen before


'Spectacular' Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra gets £10 a month price cut


Sky users given 48-hour cost alert and your costs could increase tomorrow


Never ever miss your favourite television series when on vacation with basic travel hack


Amazon may offer big reason to ditch your Fire TV Stick next week and try something new


Samsung and Google smartphone deals consist of free earbuds and smartwatches


Everyone using Google Chrome must restart their browser now - don't ignore new alert


iPhone users surprised after finding 'concealed' hack to organise home screen


Sky dishes out brand-new iPhone 16 at 'lowest ever' rate, not surprising that it's offering fast


Argos shoppers can get a free 40-inch Hisense TV by doing one thing


Immediate alert for everyone with a Gmail account - do not overlook 6 important brand-new rules


BBC iPlayer is rivalling Sky TV with a vital free upgrade - check your settings now