Scientists Develop a Twitter Bot Detection Tool

The new tool can accurately identify a socialbot around 95 percent of the time.

twitter bot

Researchers at Indiana University’s Bloomington School of Informatics and Computing recently announced the development of a Twitter bot detection tool called BotOrNot.

Twitter has an estimated 20,000 automated accounts, known as bots, which are designed to sway public opinion.

The project’s principal investigator Alessandro Flammini said in a news release that the researchers “found examples of nasty bots used to mislead, exploit and manipulate discourse with rumors, spam, malware, misinformation, political astroturf and slander.”

The researchers believe socialbots threaten democracy by waging deceptive campaigns and spreading misinformation, with the potential to facilitate cyber-crime, hinder public policy and cause panic during emergencies.

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