The Israeli Bot Defense Tool
A New Community Effort To Collect & Identify Disinformation on Twitter
As was the case of the 2016 United States Presidential Election, or the Brexit vote in the UK, the recent announcement regarding the upcoming Israeli elections has already sent dozens of bots and foreign agents into battle. That is the battle over the public’s attention and the fight between objectivity and the dissemination of online pseudo-truths.
Soon after the elections were announced, the wheels of the fake-news machine quickly started turning, and the well-known cycle of semi-automated propaganda has begun yet again. With a blink of an eye, a new generation of bots has risen from its quiet slumber, and started luring users to actively participate in its devious scheme to strengthen prejudice, play on social myths, and to further confound and divide the public.
Among the long list of notable disinformation targets, one may often find the thought leaders of the online Israeli community. These are Israeli journalists, bloggers, and social influencers, who spend their days unearthing hidden truths, and uncovering the trail of lies, deceit, and pseudo-truths, that these same bot-networks are trying to ingrain in the minds of the Israeli society.
For those who experience this reality on a daily basis, It is now clearer than ever that the situation has put the social media discourse on a path to crisis. The general public may gradually understand the need to become less susceptible to false information, but the need for preemptive and proactive acts against the spread of fake narratives is still not widely understood.
As part of the effort to improve the credibility of online content and help to maintain the integrity of the coming elections, our team at Commun.it 360º decided to take a stand. With the help of prominent figures in the Israeli information community, we have developed a tool that helps researchers and specialists identify fake identities and potential botnets and swiftly act on that information.
The new “Bot Defense Tool” is not just a defensive measure — it’s designed to actively fight the fake news phenomenon by joining together researchers and trusted journalists. In the public front, journalists and prominent figures are encouraged to share their list of blocked Twitter members, which will be recursively incorporated into a pool of suspected accounts, analyzed and cross-referenced. On the backend, the collective information will be available to researchers, data specialists and other figures who are willing to take part of the effort.
How you can contribute:
- Login to the app using your Twitter profile.
- The app will automatically collect your block-list every once in a while, to reflect any change in the state of your blocked members list.
- In the background, the collected data will be studied and cross-referenced.
- If and when analyzed profiles are confirmed to be part of bot networks or sock-puppets, they will be reported to Twitter and the public for further examination.
It is important to note that at this point, the tool is limited to known journalists and researchers, but anyone who wants to participate is welcome to contact our team via our page at https://communit360.com/israeli-bot-defense or send an email to ran@commun.it (@ran5000 on Twitter).
We always welcome any suggestions, feedback or useful information, so please feel free to reach out. Wishing a more accurate, informed and authentic public discourse to us all!
