Many have commented that this past week seemed calmer on the internet compared to its regular chaos. People remarked that they were enjoying themselves more, seeing less hate, and here’s why.
The reigning theory behind this breath of fresh air is that there were fewer anger-inducing “bots” roaming the internet. These bot accounts appear as real users but are actually machinery lying in wait to stir up arguments. Their purpose is to create a more vicious and negative space on the internet. However, this week, people were surprised by less vindictive comments and fewer spiteful interactions.
Some people associated the internet peace with the Ukrainian data center strikes that took place October 8. The explanation follows that Yandex data centers were attacked by a series of military strikes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy supports this theory and claims that the data center strike led to a decrease in online bots.
While speaking at the opening of the Warsaw Security Forum, Zelenskyy discussed the strikes, saying, “When our strikes reached Yandex’s data centers, it suddenly became a little easier to breathe on many social media platforms.” He also claimed that there had been “less hate, less division and fewer provocations” online due to decreased bot activity.
Many people agreed with this statement, claiming their comment sections have been much more tranquil since the data center attack.
New York City Councilmember Chi Ossé posted a quote-post of a photo where he joked he had undergone “twink death” since his election as a Councilmember. On Tuesday, Oct 13 he commented:
“No one calling me a N-word F-slur under this post, I guess the bots really are gone.”
Other accounts such as Christina Garnett celebrated the reprieve from the hateful bots, however temporary. X, which has a reputation of being fractured, seemed more united and enjoyable.
Others noticed how comment sections on the White House’s X account appeared to hold far fewer pro-Trump defenders and less propaganda.
Elon Musk himself, owner of X, was much less active. According to tech news website Futurism, Musk averaged around 17,000 to 81,000 likes per post on X throughout October. However, after the strikes, most of his posts averaged a decreased number of 8,000 to 11,000 likes.
The situation is unsurprising, as there is well-documented evidence showing that in the past decade Russian operativeshave made it their mission to push anti-western/American and pro-Russian propaganda online. They wish to pit the American public against each other and create an internalized hate culture.
Conversely, several organizations argued that Zelenskyy’s view of the strike is misguided. They claimed the accounts in question were not misinformation bots on the internet but instead “web crawlers.” These scour the internet to index websites, according to Mother Jones.
Renée DiResta, an associate research professor at Georgetown University, clarified that “bot” has multiple connotations and that some of these spread misinformation about their true nature.
“It is used as shorthand for both web crawlers and online trolls,” says DiResta, speaking to Mother Jones. “Web crawlers plummeting makes sense, but online trolls usually have more resilient infrastructure.”
Despite the positive experience people found in recent days, researchers from the group dTeam spoke to the BBC, saying there has not been “any traffic change from known Russian accounts and bot clusters on any platform.” dTeam tracksRussian influence operations.
This was supported by @Antibot4navalny, a group of researchers combating Russian disinformation. They posted on X on Tuesday and said they had not recognized any substantial change in activity from disinformation-oriented bots.
“We see no ‘dramatic drop’ in traffic of Kremlin-aligned human trolls-for-hire targeting Russian domestic users (which we have been tracking for years),” says @Antibot4navalny.
Vatnik Soup, another tracking site, spoke to Mother Jones and wrote that there was “no solid evidence” of a drop in activity from Russian bot farms.
“This doesn’t mean the strikes haven’t had an effect, but no one has demonstrated it with solid data so far,” says Vatnik Soup.
DiResta commented on why she thinks so many people believe the bots have been beaten. “The ‘Russian bot takedown’ story is satisfying because people are tired of suspected manipulation,” DiResta tells Mother Jones. “And the idea that a Ukrainian strike silenced fake accounts is a compelling story of victory against a common enemy. It also supports the comforting belief that your political enemies aren’t even real.”
In conclusion, in a statement to the BBC, Zelenskyy’s office corrected some of the president’s comments. It clarified that he was talking about “the atmosphere on social media” rather than claiming he knew of a significant downturn in bot baiting.
