Can fake Twitter accounts cause terrorism? I ask that because UK legal and academic leaders are. In fact, they’re conducting a study on it. This study is also in the wake of UK terror in 2017. For instance, there was the Manchester tragedy in May that took dozens of innocent lives.
But back to this study. Some say turning social media into a weapon is more detail than they thought. They also used 30 million pieces of data from all social media. However, they focused on fake Russian twitter accounts. Because four of these played a role in four British terror attacks in 2017.
So according to their studies, some used these accounts to influence debate after the accounts. And I doubt this was the healthy kind of debate. Furthermore, these fake accounts are good at targeting ‘sympathetic’ groups. Whether these is sympathy towards the victims or the attackers, I am not certain. Their purpose is to try and stir up emotion. But remember, researchers aren’t the only one studying such accounts. Because some in Congress still speculate if such Twitter accounts, especially from Russia, influenced last year’s election.
Can fake Twitter accounts cause terrorism? I think these researchers tell us what most of us in computer service and computer repair already know. There are bad guys out there who use social media for evil purposes. And a lot them aren’t living in some mountain cave, either. Some of these forces are so sophisticated it would blow most people away. That’s the real concern. In the days after such tragedies, some did use social media to support and pray for the victims. That’s awesome. But how many used social media to do the opposite? And where did they come from?
We at Computer Geeks send our thoughts and condolences to all affected by today’s fatal train crash in Washington state and their families. May you all be comforted in your suffering.