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Overall, we saw little automated activity for the #DemDebate and #DemDebate3 hashtags, but one thing did jump out at us - a group of accounts retweeting right-wing #DemDebate tweets from (mostly) @JoeyNoCollusion via an app called Power10.
cc: @ZellaQuixote
cc: @ZellaQuixote
@JoeyNoCollusion @ZellaQuixote Power10 is a tool that automatically retweets accounts of your choice. It requests pretty comprehensive access to your account, so we had @DrunkAlexJones try it in a controlled environment. (It also has a bulk follow feature, which Alex did not test due to fear of breaching TOS.)
@JoeyNoCollusion @ZellaQuixote @DrunkAlexJones The stated aim of the Power10 tool is to retweet #MAGA accounts and candidates and its very existence is a secret from Democrats (despite multiple researchers having discussed it publicly). Despite this, one can in fact amplify any desired account with this app.
@JoeyNoCollusion @ZellaQuixote @DrunkAlexJones In order to map the network of accounts retweeting and being retweeted via Power10, we started with @JoeyNoCollusion and the six accounts that retweeted his #DemDebate tweets.
@JoeyNoCollusion @ZellaQuixote @DrunkAlexJones We looked at the other accounts those six accounts retweeted, found more accounts retweeting those via Power10, and repeated the process. We also added any Power10 retweets from our last month of data pulls to the mix.
@JoeyNoCollusion @ZellaQuixote @DrunkAlexJones We ended up with 73 accounts that generated a combined 106580 retweets via Power10 in their most recent month of activity. Some are pure bots while others show varying degrees of likely organic activity alongside the automated retweets.
@JoeyNoCollusion @ZellaQuixote @DrunkAlexJones These 73 accounts retweeted 151 different accounts via Power10. @realDonaldTrump is the most frequently retweeted, with @rhowardbrowne (which also retweets via Power10) a close second. A mix of celebrity and pseudonymous #MAGA accounts round out the rest.
@JoeyNoCollusion @ZellaQuixote @DrunkAlexJones @realDonaldTrump @rhowardbrowne Retweet network for the Power10 accounts and the accounts they amplify. The main network contains many #MAGA frequent flyers, with a smaller separate network related to @BruceForTexas's Senate campaign also visible. @GhanaDecides appears to be a dormant @Cernovich retweet bot.
@JoeyNoCollusion @ZellaQuixote @DrunkAlexJones @realDonaldTrump @rhowardbrowne @BruceForTexas @GhanaDecides @Cernovich (Previous threads on top 100 #MAGA frequent flyers and on Power10 amplification related to @MarcoGutierrez's account)
@JoeyNoCollusion @ZellaQuixote @DrunkAlexJones @realDonaldTrump @rhowardbrowne @BruceForTexas @GhanaDecides @Cernovich @MarcoGutierrez Also, cautionary PSA: when conducting empirical research on tools that may be operated by adversaries, take basic precautions - don't connect from your own IP address (use TOR/VPN/proxy) and don't use accounts you care about or that contain private information.
@JoeyNoCollusion @ZellaQuixote @DrunkAlexJones @realDonaldTrump @rhowardbrowne @BruceForTexas @GhanaDecides @Cernovich @MarcoGutierrez Update: based on a reply to this thread from @crzy4Parrots, we took a closer look at @JoeyNoCollusion's followers. Recent followers are mostly #MAGA, but the first 15000 seem random (English-language accounts with legit followings usually show a band in 2009; absent here.)
@JoeyNoCollusion @ZellaQuixote @DrunkAlexJones @realDonaldTrump @rhowardbrowne @BruceForTexas @GhanaDecides @Cernovich @MarcoGutierrez @crzy4Parrots The oldest tweet currently visible on @JoeyNoCollusion's time is from August 2019, despite the account having been created in May 2018. Many of the older replies to the account are not in English, but the old tweets are deleted.
@JoeyNoCollusion @ZellaQuixote @DrunkAlexJones @realDonaldTrump @rhowardbrowne @BruceForTexas @GhanaDecides @Cernovich @MarcoGutierrez @crzy4Parrots Account renames contribute to the confusion: a different account (ID 1111126172245458944) was named @JoeyNoCollusion in June 2016. That account has been renamed to @TommyTrumpOrban and retweets the new @JoeyNoCollusion (ID 993818001425088512, previous name unknown) via Power10.
@JoeyNoCollusion @ZellaQuixote @DrunkAlexJones @realDonaldTrump @rhowardbrowne @BruceForTexas @GhanaDecides @Cernovich @MarcoGutierrez @crzy4Parrots @TommyTrumpOrban The account presently known as @TommyTrumpOrban has a similar anomaly lurking in its followers to that which we saw in @JoeyNoCollusion's. The same is true of another account with Power10 retweets of @JoeyNoCollusion, @lSpeakWord (which may not have any "real" followers at all.)
@JoeyNoCollusion @ZellaQuixote @DrunkAlexJones @realDonaldTrump @rhowardbrowne @BruceForTexas @GhanaDecides @Cernovich @MarcoGutierrez @crzy4Parrots @TommyTrumpOrban @lSpeakWord Blocked by the 32.9% of @MarcoGutierrez that isn't automated. Sad!
@JoeyNoCollusion @ZellaQuixote @DrunkAlexJones @realDonaldTrump @rhowardbrowne @BruceForTexas @GhanaDecides @Cernovich @MarcoGutierrez @crzy4Parrots @TommyTrumpOrban @lSpeakWord Speaking of @MarcoGutierrez, prolific use of automated amplification via Power10 ain't the only interesting sight to be seen. Roughly 5000 of Marco's early followers look decidedly bogus.
@JoeyNoCollusion @ZellaQuixote @DrunkAlexJones @realDonaldTrump @rhowardbrowne @BruceForTexas @GhanaDecides @Cernovich @MarcoGutierrez @crzy4Parrots @TommyTrumpOrban @lSpeakWord Presently, @GhanaDecides has a total of 768 tweets. All are from April 2019, automated via Power10, and 757 are retweets of @Cernovich. Based on archives and still-visible replies, it wasn't always so - the account appears to have been a Ghana-focused newsbot in a past life.
@JoeyNoCollusion @ZellaQuixote @DrunkAlexJones @realDonaldTrump @rhowardbrowne @BruceForTexas @GhanaDecides @Cernovich @MarcoGutierrez @crzy4Parrots @TommyTrumpOrban @lSpeakWord Further evidence that @GhanaDecides has been repurposed emerges amongst its followers - the most recent 8000 mostly tweet in Japanese while previous followers mostly tweet in English. 14034 of its 66984 followers (21%) are either protected accounts or have never tweeted.
@JoeyNoCollusion @ZellaQuixote @DrunkAlexJones @realDonaldTrump @rhowardbrowne @BruceForTexas @GhanaDecides @Cernovich @MarcoGutierrez @crzy4Parrots @TommyTrumpOrban @lSpeakWord The Power10 tool was disabled (and most of the accounts banned) shortly after we posted this thread. Thus far, the former users seem leery of further automation use: only 1.8% of their post-Power10 tweets are automated, most of which are @annvandersteel playing with Hootsuite.
