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Tracking coordinated disinformation campaigns online made easier with new BotSlayer tool | News at IU

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana University’s Observatory on Social Media has launched a new tool in the fight against online disinformation: BotSlayer.

The software, which is free and open to the public, scans social media in real time to detect evidence of automated Twitter accounts — or “bots” — pushing messages in a coordinated manner, an increasingly common practice to manipulate public opinion by creating the false impression that many people are talking about a particular subject. The method is also known as “astroturfing” because it mimics the appearance of legitimate grassroots political activity.

By leveraging the observatory’s expertise and technological infrastructure, BotSlayer gives groups and individuals of any political affiliation the power to detect coordinated disinformation campaigns in real time — without any prior knowledge of these campaigns. The software’s development was supported by a gift from Craig Newmark Philanthropies.

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Source: Tracking coordinated disinformation campaigns online made easier with new BotSlayer tool: News at IU