On Wednesday, Twitter released data sets that reveal millions of photos, tweets, and videos associated with accounts linked to election meddling. These posts and accounts go back to 2016, when it first came to light that foreign operators used social media platforms, including Twitter, to interfere with elections in the United States.
The number of accounts involved isn’t too shocking, given how big a problem fake news has been, but this data drop is still a big deal. Why? Twitter is releasing specific tweets, videos, GIFs, recorded Periscope livestreams, and images for the first time.
Most of the data is from accounts affiliated with the Internet Research Agency (which is essentially a Russian-linked center for trolls), with some possibly tied to Iran, among other countries.
Interestingly, the Internet Research Agency has already been indicted by Robert Mueller, U.S. special counsel, for related actions during the last presidential election.
The hope is that outside researchers, like journalists and academics, can dig into the data and study it. The pictures, videos, and general sentiments expressed via these accounts came from all sides of the political spectrum, but their goal was to amp up political discord in the U.S. by expressing the most extreme, polarizing views possible.
“These types of tactics have been around for far longer than Twitter has existed,” write Vijaya Gadde and Yoel Roth in a blog post associated with the data drop. “They will adapt and change as the geopolitical terrain evolves worldwide and as new technologies emerge.”
There is a lot of potential for getting good use out of this data. It’s not too late to educate people and increase transparency before the midterm elections, for example. It’s also an opportunity for researchers to understand how and why misinformation spreads, and what groups of users may be more susceptible to “troll” content than others.
For those looking to explore the data, it’s worth noting that it’s not available on Twitter itself anymore. Since the accounts have been deleted, this data is available only via Twitter’s data drop.
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