Read on Twitter
Ok, so I did a bit of digging into this. First off: Stephanie is right, there are a bunch of hallmarks of a Twitter botnet being used to amplify this message. It's an entirely reasonable conclusion.
*But* I'm not sure that's what happened. https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1265843694072139776
*But* I'm not sure that's what happened. https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1265843694072139776
So let's start with the story. Yesterday, a video was posted online of a man standing outside, saying "police murdered my cousin." (later ID'd as Regis Korchinski-Paquet.) He said she was thrown off her building in High Park.
That video, and some related information, percolated on Twitter and Instagram.
Later that evening, before 10, this story went out: https://www.cp24.com/news/siu-investigating-after-woman-falls-to-her-death-in-high-park-1.4958013
It, organically, went viral on here. Lots of accounts in Toronto, and others tweeted about the BLM protests, shared it.
Later that evening, before 10, this story went out: https://www.cp24.com/news/siu-investigating-after-woman-falls-to-her-death-in-high-park-1.4958013
It, organically, went viral on here. Lots of accounts in Toronto, and others tweeted about the BLM protests, shared it.
Closer to 11, a tweet went out from one Kpop fan account. Then, the same message was shared by various other KPop stan accounts, as well as some BLM-focused users. https://twitter.com/chabff/status/1265838718205800448
As Stephanie pointed out: That looked like deliberate amplification.
As Stephanie pointed out: That looked like deliberate amplification.
Interestingly, though, that doesn't seem to be the case. It's entirely possible some bots were used to boost this story, but it actually seems like there is a significant number of Kpop fans who are actively engaged in BLM issues.
This is actually an interesting parable in how hard it can be to pinpoint artificial amplification. Many of these accounts seemed to be copy-and-pasting this tweet, tweeting in multiple languages, and posted huge volumes.
But they also appear to be real people!
But they also appear to be real people!
So Stephanie was quite right to note that odd behaviour. And we still don't yet have a full picture of what happened in the tragic death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet.
But there doesn't *seem* to be a deliberate effort to artificially boost this story.
But there doesn't *seem* to be a deliberate effort to artificially boost this story.
isn't that exactly what a bot would say?(But, seriously, glad we could get to the bottom of this.) https://twitter.com/chabff/status/1266041386824085506
Another not-bot weighs in. https://twitter.com/HYNGJUNLUVR/status/1266042176477282310
When I see newsrooms relying on platforms like this, and not doing independent verification of whether or not these accounts are actually bots, it is very frustrating. https://twitter.com/tinysubversions/status/1266041298164740097
