EL.AS: How to Identify Bots – Public Protection Against Manipulation Through Fake Accounts on Social Media

The public is being informed about the increasing activity of automated fake accounts (bots) on social media, which are created to manipulate public opinion, spread false news, and alter public discourse. What are malicious and misleading bots? These are automated accounts mass-produced to post, comment, and interact by ‘posting’ content, giving the false impression of real participation in public discussions. How can they be identified? They have profiles without photos or generic usernames (random numbers, names followed by alphanumeric combinations), make thousands of posts in a few days, mainly through retweets, publish at unnatural hours, lack original content, and have an unbalanced following-followers ratio. They also share content in multiple languages. Where and how are these bots used? Malicious bots are used on many social networking platforms to influence public opinion and mislead the public. Specifically, they create thousands of posts, boosting specific hashtags and content to affect trends on social platforms, increasing comments and retweets of certain posts, creating a false impression of widespread support or reaction. For example, research from the Cybercrime Prosecution Department revealed the creation of thousands of bots on popular Social Media platforms like TikTok, X, Facebook, and Instagram during a recent public gathering campaign, aiming to interact with real content creators and manipulate platform algorithms to increase visibility. Why are they dangerous? Thus, malicious bots are dangerous as they reinforce false news and manipulate social network algorithms while creating a false image of reality. What can citizens do? The Hellenic Police advises citizens not to interact with suspicious accounts, report fake accounts to social media platforms, and cross-check information from reliable and trustworthy sources.