Elon Musk, Twitter & Bot Sentinel’s Troll Scam

Inside the social media world that is the “Twitterverse”, there are accounts that are not real people at all. Though managed by a person, they are programmed with an array of conversation starters, and argumentative algorithms that can seemingly answer questions and spew out information for the unsuspecting person. Some are helpful robots that answer frequently asked questions for companies wanting to meditate on the cyber space between content and their real people social engagement. Some automatically kick into gear and retweet when a certain hashtag is utilised…and some spread misinformation and perpetuate harmful lies.

For whatever reason Elon Musk chose to go anywhere near Twitter with a bargepole and pick at the bot scab, it has become dislodged and the infection is oozy. The only entity that manages the band-aids for the true size of the problem is Twitter and it’s their integrity that is ultimately on the line. In the midst of the pending court case, Twitter’s former security chief Peiter Zatko has raised a red flag about “major security issues”. And from an article by The Guardian, Twitter’s global vice-president of communications, Rebecca Hahn said that Twitter’s “Security and privacy have long been company-wide priorities at Twitter and will continue to be”. Christopher Bouzy has also raised his head to win favour and riding the bow-wave of Musk’s inquiry to pass opinion about Zatko while trying to damage control the possibility of being kicked off Twitter for an API violation.

About a month ago and in the lead up to writing this piece, I dove deeply into the information online about Christopher Bouzy’s Bot Sentinel, and following the rabbit (so to speak), I was led to discover a remarkable titbit of security violation that reveals Bouzy as the ‘pot calling the kettle black’.

In 2018, Bouzy sprung ‘Bot Sentinel’ into life (incorporated 8 March 2019). He claims “Bot Sentinel is a free non-partisan platform developed to classify and track inauthentic accounts and toxic trolls. The platform uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to classify Twitter accounts, and then adds the accounts to a publicly available database that anyone can browse.” Sounds like a noble quest, right? But does it really do what it says? Granted, cleverly written but No! Bot Sentinel is a fraud and not an impartial app but rather a cyber bully for hire that targets any account that doesn’t meet his biased algorithm parameters.. (Bot Sentinel Is Biased)

If you have an opinion about Meghan Markle, Amber Heard or US politics, chances are you’ll end up on a “Hater’s list”. Real people accounts are being shamed with a damning “disruptive” and “problematic” status while corresponding accusations demand these accounts be falsely flagged to Twitter. But the bullying behaviour doesn’t end there. While the app has been expanded to browser extensions and supposed surveillance of text based content, the website version has published privileged Twitter data for the whole wide world to see.

Hiding in plain sight is the infraction — The unique account ID number that is non-public and used within Twitter’s API (Application Programming Interface), has been doxxed next to its corresponding account. Twitter grants developers the privilege to use this information for the functionality of their applications but this data is meant to be kept secure. From the Twitter app, this number is not available to the public and with Bot Sentinel boasting in upwards of 2.8M analysed accounts and rising, this is a deliberate violation of the Twitter API Developer Agreement. For the life of the account, this number never changes and opens these accounts to stalkers who can participate in the targeted surveillance, which is also a further violation of Twitter rules.

In the same way that Heard falsely infiltrated MeToo with her claims of victimhood, the people who are using the app have been also duped by Christopher Bouzy. Those so-called “anti-Amber Heard accounts” are actually innocent real people whose only fault is their love and support of Johnny Depp. Whatever algorithm Bouzy has written, offers immunity to the hardcore and often toxic misandrist Amber Heard supporters who spread misinformation, hatefully mock Depp supporters and brag about doxxing. I believe Heard’s outcry for the “orchestrated smear campaign by Adam Waldman” was a lie designed to harbour a made up solution called ‘Bot Sentinel’.

What does this mean for the average Jo on twitter? In the the current climate, it seems like our accounts are being observed by the community, by Twitter and by a biased vigilante who is manipulating engagement, promoting false-flagging and doxxing of private information.

Bouzy likes to argue that the only people who have a problem are the troll account holders…but what if you found your account on one of his hater lists and you’re not a troll?…Just a person having your say.

As an avid supporter of Johnny Depp, I’m instantly classed as an anti-Amber Heard troll. I have an issue with Bot Sentinel because my account is real. I’m not a bot or a troll and I certainly do not wish anyone any “impunity”. The problem is that Bot Sentinel is not impartial. Bouzy panhandles an income based on the lie of cleaning up Twitter while selling advanced features and… more bots? How many of these 200K people have been scammed out of a generous donation as Bouzy uses them as a shield for his conspiracy theory? Targeting communities and people under the guise of being a protective sentinel.

There is also the perpetuating disinformation train and complicity with journalists like Kat Tenbarge (NBC) who are actively manipulating DV support narratives and continued misandrist toxicity. It is sickening but people are noticing, waking up to the truth and reporting to Twitter.

TREAD: Are you on the AH hate list?

Twitter’s serenade with developers and Bot Sentinel’s toy-like image has let a security breach slip through the cracks. Although Bouzy claims all data on his website is public, this is not true. Just as the Twitter rules on his website do not completely align with actual Twitter rules. I’d like to think that all this time, Twitter just didn’t know because in all the reports Twitter receives, this info is probably seen as privileged data anyway, attached to a back-door part of the program that the public never sees…right?

Bot Sentinel is a PR machine, a bully for hire by Royals and Amber Heard and potentially US congress members wanting to push their political agenda within social media. Elon Musk’s request for Twitter to reveal the number of bots, has brought forward a timely report from a former Twitter security chief who highlights serious concerns about security. What of Twitter’s relationship with Bot Sentinel? What sort of legal ramifications does this bring to Twitter? What’s the penalty for en mass API violations?

As to Musk’s dance with Twitter? …We’re all going to have to wait and see what happens after the court case in October. Will Musk be able to wriggle free of the purchase? Maybe he’ll change his mind again. Would it be so bad if he did procure Twitter? How different would it be to have a social media platform that wasn’t riddled with fake accounts, unlabelled bots and nefarious apps?

Reporting Links:
Twitter API violation.
Twitter Privacy Violation
ico.org.uk GDPR or DPA 2018 personal data breach
https://www.dataprotection.ie/
https://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/
Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

THREAD: Malicious accounts like @cbouzy and @mldauber are harassing other twitter users, and Bot Sentinel have published a full list those user accounts publicly. This list is being used in a campaign of targeted harassment.