# Those Russian Twitter Bots Didn’t Do $#!% in 2016, Says New Study  ## Metadata - Author:: [[The Intercept]] - Full Title:: Those Russian Twitter Bots Didn’t Do $#!% in 2016, Says New Study - Category: #articles - URL: https://theintercept.com/2023/01/10/russia-twitter-bots-trump-election/?mkt_tok=ODUwLVRBQS01MTEAAAGJQC_anTmT06V10PMTE1liNOIYNHdFUoCVZmAN-SaHuFY5hPYmZ9U7yKB1CyGe3EZDQ8T1Mc4WvbF4PaP0rUBjL1v0mZSJTXnEX_R1TUOI8D8j ## Highlights > Since the 2016 presidential election, the notion that the Russian government somehow “weaponized” social media to push voters to Donald Trump has been widely taken as a gospel in liberal circles. A groundbreaking recent New York University study, however, says there’s no evidence Russian tweets had any meaningful effect at all. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpgqwkh9hm1atzebw0k6y0mp)) > We demonstrate, first, that exposure to Russian disinformation accounts was heavily concentrated: only 1% of users accounted for 70% of exposures,” the scholars wrote in the journal [Nature Communications](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-35576-9). “Second, exposure was concentrated among users who strongly identified as Republicans. Third, exposure to the Russian influence campaign was eclipsed by content from domestic news media and politicians. Finally, we find no evidence of a meaningful relationship between exposure to the Russian foreign influence campaign and changes in attitudes, polarization, or voting behavior.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpgqx2qna2354esn6c3cwmkm)) > The NYU study found that Russia’s Twitter campaign had no effect in part because barely anyone saw it ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpgr02nwh85h485k9ex32wa3)) > hose who identified as ‘Strong Republicans’ were exposed to roughly nine times as many posts from Russian foreign influence accounts than were those who identified as Democrats or Independents.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpgr0qcsrekgjd42jrvdeb7d)) > Crucially, the report focused only on tweets, so the possible effect of Facebook groups, Instagram posts, or, say, the spread of materials hacked from the Democratic National Committee was left unassessed ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpgr2rm41573eay1dwtxvjjr)) > Russian tweets, the authors note, were a small speck when compared to homegrown posters ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpgr35h38mngfx1cerzb8746)) # Those Russian Twitter Bots Didn’t Do $#!% in 2016, Says New Study  ## Metadata - Author:: [[The Intercept]] - Full Title:: Those Russian Twitter Bots Didn’t Do $#!% in 2016, Says New Study - Category: #articles - URL: https://theintercept.com/2023/01/10/russia-twitter-bots-trump-election/?mkt_tok=ODUwLVRBQS01MTEAAAGJQC_anTmT06V10PMTE1liNOIYNHdFUoCVZmAN-SaHuFY5hPYmZ9U7yKB1CyGe3EZDQ8T1Mc4WvbF4PaP0rUBjL1v0mZSJTXnEX_R1TUOI8D8j ## Highlights > Since the 2016 presidential election, the notion that the Russian government somehow “weaponized” social media to push voters to Donald Trump has been widely taken as a gospel in liberal circles. A groundbreaking recent New York University study, however, says there’s no evidence Russian tweets had any meaningful effect at all. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpgqwkh9hm1atzebw0k6y0mp)) > We demonstrate, first, that exposure to Russian disinformation accounts was heavily concentrated: only 1% of users accounted for 70% of exposures,” the scholars wrote in the journal [Nature Communications](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-35576-9). “Second, exposure was concentrated among users who strongly identified as Republicans. Third, exposure to the Russian influence campaign was eclipsed by content from domestic news media and politicians. Finally, we find no evidence of a meaningful relationship between exposure to the Russian foreign influence campaign and changes in attitudes, polarization, or voting behavior.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpgqx2qna2354esn6c3cwmkm)) > The NYU study found that Russia’s Twitter campaign had no effect in part because barely anyone saw it ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpgr02nwh85h485k9ex32wa3)) > hose who identified as ‘Strong Republicans’ were exposed to roughly nine times as many posts from Russian foreign influence accounts than were those who identified as Democrats or Independents.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpgr0qcsrekgjd42jrvdeb7d)) > Crucially, the report focused only on tweets, so the possible effect of Facebook groups, Instagram posts, or, say, the spread of materials hacked from the Democratic National Committee was left unassessed ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpgr2rm41573eay1dwtxvjjr)) > Russian tweets, the authors note, were a small speck when compared to homegrown posters ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gpgr35h38mngfx1cerzb8746))