Russian trolls 'spreading discord' over vaccine safety online

Source: The Guardian

Russian trolls 'spreading discord' over vaccine safety online

Study discovered several accounts, now known to belong to the same Russian trolls who interfered in the US election, tweeting about vaccines

Jessica Glenza in New York
Thu 23 Aug 2018 21.00 BST

Bots and Russian trolls spread misinformation about vaccines on Twitter to sow division and distribute malicious content before and during the American presidential election, according to a new study.

Scientists at George Washington University, in Washington DC, made the discovery while trying to improve social media communications for public health workers, researchers said. Instead, they found trolls and bots skewing online debate and upending consensus about vaccine safety.

The study discovered several accounts, now known to belong to the same Russian trolls who interfered in the US election, as well as marketing and malware bots, tweeting about vaccines.

Russian trolls played both sides, the researchers said, tweeting pro- and anti-vaccine content in a politically charged context.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/aug/23/russian-trolls-spread-vaccine-misinformation-on-twitter