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Meet @IanRoberts9 and @JoanneB37379026, two curiously similar Twitter accounts that are in all likelihood retweet bots implemented by automating the Twitter website. (Amusingly, @IanRoberts9 was restricted by Twitter while we were looking at these accounts.)
cc: @ZellaQuixote
cc: @ZellaQuixote
By examining other accounts that retweeted the same tweets as the two bots, we found 16 matching the pattern (web browser + 24/7 activity.) The newest batch (from 5/11) all have the same hashtags (#PresidentPelosi, #PelosiPower, #TeamPelosi, and #StillWithHer) on their profiles.
To the total surprise of probably no one anywhere, these accounts use stolen profile pictures easily found via reverse image search.
What accounts does this group of bots retweet? At the top of the list is @AndrewYang, who the network has RT'd 2472 times, with @funder a somewhat distant second at 679. The Yang retweets stopped at the end of April; currently this botnet RTs an assortment of left-wing accounts.
Similar story with hashtags: #YangGang is the most frequent (a result of the botnet's early Yang focus,) with random #Resistance hashtags making much of the rest. The bots have likely picked up followers via the inclusion of #FBR/#FBRParty.
