It is really getting annoying. Even approval of registrations is not bot-proof anymore.

We ask during signup future users to describe themselves briefly. These texts are often really heartwarming. And until recently they were quite helpful to weed out bots. Not so easy anymore, it seems:

On June 1st, @Dikor requested an account:
"Interested in joining to connect with others and follow discussions. Known for a messenger bag aesthetic and work in Kuwait as Hotel Manager"

ok, not the most meaningful text, but also not immediately worthy of a reject. The request was granted.

ok, the email domain "@pulse25k.io.vn" is not the most common one, but not few of our users prefer remaining anonymous, which is understandable.

@Dikor was programmed to post during 10 days rather innocuous gibberish.

And then, yesterday, they started posting anti-Ukrainian propaganda in Spanish (Spain and Greece are particularly frequently targeted, it seems. The people behind the bots might have made an analysis about susceptibility of their propaganda).

I have frozen the account to leave it for a few days as an example for all of us to spot patterns. We'll suspend it soon.

It is interesting that, until now, the only large-scale bot campaigns trying to influence public opinion were or Russia- or Israel-adjacent.

The people from @iftas are doing some important structural support to tackle this bot campaign and helped us to spot several bots (important to note that there were also false positives, so each suggestion needs to be carefully revised). Anyway, thank you folks!

Disclaimer: it is important to note that not everybody who criticizes Ukraine is a bot or a pro-Russian troll. There is a lot of valid criticism about the actions of the Ukrainian government and NATO geopolitics are not to create peace but to project power. And not everything is as we are told our media. But we don't want cheap talking points shoved into our faces by coordinated bot campaigns. It's a bit of a bummer, really.

#Fediblock #FediAdmin #RussianSpambot #RussianBot #DisinformationCampaign #Disinformation