Thread by @z3dster

I believe I've managed to uncover a state backed sockpuppet and bot network currently active on @twitter at this very moment, and no it isn't Russian medium.com/@z3dster/on-so…

A few weeks ago @thedailybeast's @arawnsley published a piece on a network of fake news stories published by real news site. Someone had created fake personas to accomplish this, fake profile images, fake backstories, fake everything thedailybeast.com/right-wing-med…

I ran those fake news stories back through Twitter to see who had been sharing them and landed an account for Dima, an Ohio based Soviet born Jewish American

Looking at his profile pic some issues started to appear in that bio, see if you can eyespy everything wrong in this image

Following Dima's tweets I found more sockpuppet accounts in his like
3 accounts all created on the same day liking one of this tweets

It was this tweet attacking @kenvogel for what they thought was being too pro-Qatar

In the same network of sockpuppets I found this account using an image of murder victim Mollie Tibbetts for it's avatar

I also found Dima sharing links to a strange Nigerian blog

I searched the headline from that blog and found a whole network of Nigerian sites all with the exact same story but different authors listed

google.com/search?&q=Qata…

I believe whoever was behind the network of fake articles @arawnsley uncovered was also behind this network of fake accounts on Twitter. Additionally whoever sold them the account initially appears to currently have hundreds if not thousands of accounts sitting around waiting...

...to be sold. In the meantime they are tweeting out span, porn, and selling likes to those trying to artificially build up their own account's.

The Medium article I've written goes more in depth in to some of the accounts and my findings medium.com/@z3dster/on-so…

@josh_emerson has a good guide to our research of using existing databases of sockpuppets to find more