Documenting the anatomy of an automated propaganda machine.

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How does hate spread online? Sensationalized, fear-bait content tends to spread quickly on social media. The ability to automate almost everything helps to push propaganda distribution to new levels. I documented an automated propaganda network so we as media consumers can begin to understand how these systems work and be able to recognize fakery.

After documenting the spread of joy on twitter, I was curious to look at the opposite end of the spectrum; I wanted to study how hate spreads online. I started by looking at gephi network graphs of tweets containing the phrase “religion of peace.” One twitter account appeared in my data as the top influencer for this phrase so I took a closer look and found it’s much more than just a twitter account. AgendaOfEvil is a propaganda distribution network that is creating, curating and disseminating content using automation. Its focus is anti-Islam propaganda.

The following network graph shows 24 hours worth of tweets & retweets from AgendaOfEvil’s twitter account which are being amplified by an automated retweet network. The edges are weighted; when an account retweets AgendaOfEvil many times it produces a heavier edge between the main account and the account retweeting it.