Social bots - manipulation on social media

When computers start imitating humans and posting "opinions" online, how can we tell what is real and what is not? A new ITA dossier sheds some light on the legal status quo and offers recommendations.

07.07.2018

Not everything we read on the internet is real and true. Foto: Shutterstock.com

Many comments under a Tweet or a Facebook post are not real. They are written by social bots - computer software that is able to create content on certain topics automatically. This software is also used for micro-targeting - it shows us the ads and information on the internet we presumably want to see and tries to influence us.

These methods of advertising are also used by political parties to sway us in favor of them. A working mother might see completely different party ads than a pensioner or a business person. Niklas Gudowsky from the ITA says: "Citizens have a right to know what is the voice of an actual human being and what is written by machines. This principle is crucial to keep our democracy alive."

There is a consensus that social bots endanger our ability to form a well-informed opionion. "That's why people should never ever stop to ask critical questions and to try and find out what sources are reliable", stresses Gudowsky.

Read the ITA's dossier on "Social Bots - Manipulation on Social Media" here

By: Denise Riedlinger

Name	Purpose	Storage duration	Type	Provider
CookieConsent	Remembers your consent to the use of cookies.	1 year	HTML	Web Consent
fe_typo_user	Assigns your browser to a session on the server. This only affects the content you see and is not evaluated or processed by us	-	HTTP	Web User

Name	Purpose	Storage duration	Type	Provider
_pk_id	Used to store a few details about the user like unique visitor ID.	13 months	HTML	Matomo-id
_pk_ref	Used to store information about the user's referring website.	6 months	HTML	Matomo-ref
_pk_ses	Short-term cookie to save temporary data from the visit.	30 minutes	HTML	Matomo-ses
_pk_cvar	Short-term cookie to save temporary data from the visit.	30 minutes	HTML	Matomo-cvar
_pk_hsr	Short lived cookie used to temporarily store data for the visit.	30 minutes	HTML	Matomo

Name	Purpose	Storage duration	Type	Provider
YouTube	A connection to YouTube will be established to view videos.	-	Connection	YouTube
SoundCloud	A connection to SoundCloud will be established to play audio files.	-	Connection	SoundCloud
Twitter	A connection to Twitter will be established to display tweets.	-	missing translation: type.	Twitter
_cs_c	Indicates whether the user has consented to ContentSquare tracking.	394 days	missing translation: type.	Spotify (ContentSquare)
_cs_id	Stores a unique user ID for ContentSquare session analysis.	394 days	missing translation: type.	Spotify (ContentSquare)
_ga	Used to distinguish users.	400 days	missing translation: type.	Google Analytics
_ga_BMC5VGR8YS	Used by Google Analytics to persist session state.	400 days	missing translation: type.	Google Analytics
_ga_S0T2DJJFZM	Used by Google Analytics to persist session state.	399 days	missing translation: type.	Google Analytics
_ga_ZWG1NSHWD8	Used by Google Analytics to persist session state.	400 days	missing translation: type.	Google Analytics
_ga_ZWRF3NLZJZ	Used by Google Analytics to persist session state.	400 days	missing translation: type.	Google Analytics
_gid	Used to distinguish users.	1 days	missing translation: type.	Google Analytics
_ScCbts	Stores temporary session or playback preferences.	6 days	missing translation: type.	Spotify
_scid	Spotify advertising ID used for analytics and retargeting.	395 days	missing translation: type.	Spotify
_scid_r	Spotify advertising ID used for analytics and retargeting.	395 days	missing translation: type.	Spotify
eupubconsent-v2	Stores the IAB Transparency & Consent Framework string.	364 days	missing translation: type.	IAB / Spotify
OptanonAlertBoxClosed	Saves the state of your data protection consent.	364 days	missing translation: type.	OneTrust
OptanonConsent	Saves the state of your data protection consent.	365 days	missing translation: type.	OneTrust
sp_adid	Spotify advertising identifier.	365 days	missing translation: type.	Spotify
sp_landing	Tracks which page the user landed on within Spotify.	1 days	missing translation: type.	Spotify
sp_m	Stores the user’s market region (Spotify).	399 days	missing translation: type.	Spotify
sp_t	Session token used for Spotify playback and access.	365 days	missing translation: type.	Spotify

News

Social bots - manipulation on social media

Read the ITA's dossier on "Social Bots - Manipulation on Social Media" here

Contact

Technology Assessment