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It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.
-- By MaxE - 13 Oct 2023
I. Intro
State and non-state actors manipulate social media platforms and their users to saturate social media with propaganda. Furthermore, intra-user and user-to-company communication on social media is now tailorable to an individual’s online habits. For these reasons, social media creates a point of injection for propaganda. State and non-state actors exploit these algorithm-based platforms by hijacking trends and using bots. In this paper, I will analyze social media propaganda mechanisms that State and non-state actors use to gain international exposure. I argue that both groups fuel diametrically opposed narratives to polarize conflicting ideologies. Thus, fueling division and promoting conflict-driven rather than conflict-resolving agendas.
II. Diametrically opposed narratives surrounding conflict leads to disinformation and social division.
Diametrically opposed narratives surrounding war leads to disinformation and widespread polarized perceptions that fuel tension between feuding parties. Today, the internet provides unprecedented access to information from conflict zones. Users get a front row seat to the battles in Ukraine, ISIS’s activities, and the Israeli-Hamas war. On social media, the political messaging surrounding these conflicts is characterized by fundamental disagreements promoted by the parties in each conflict respectively. Therefore, polarization shapes discussions regarding each conflict and disinformation runs rampant on social media platforms. State and non-state actors use bots, hijack trends, and employ divisive rhetoric to push these agendas.
a. State actors create disingenuous narratives on social media to tamper with elections.
the U.S. Congress, a State actor, investigated Russian interference in the 2016 election campaign. The U.S. accused Russia of using trolls and bots to spread misinformation and politically biased information. Trolls are malicious accounts created for the purpose of manipulation. Bots are automated accounts. Both trolls and bots clone or emulate the activity of human users while operating at a much higher pace. For example, they can produce content and follow a scripted agenda. Furthermore, these fake accounts were “created and operated with the primary goal of manipulating public opinion” (for example, promoting divisiveness or conflict on some social or political issue). In 2016, the Russian cyberattacks enhanced malicious information and polarized political conversation, causing confusion and social instability. As a result, Russia’s tampering influenced the public sentiments surrounding the 2021 election’s validity. Furthermore, non-state actors use bots and trends to push their agendas by advocating for their movements and dividing global spectators.
b. Non-state actors use bots and hijack trends to gain international support through widespread exposure.
Non-state actors hijack trends and direct bots at users within society to diminish trust towards their respective governments. Trends refer to the list of topics sorted in order of popularity displayed on social media platforms like X and Facebook. The best way to establish a trend is to build a network of bot accounts programmed to tweet at various intervals, respond to certain words, or retweet when directed by a master account. This is because bots tend to follow each other and the core group. Furthermore, in 2014, the Islamic State (IS) created an app to help them create trends and spread propaganda across twitter (Now X). First, IS members linked twitter accounts to the app, “Dawn of Glad Tidings.” The app made posts and reposts from a master account that other accounts mimicked on behalf of various twitter users. Furthermore, IS successfully hijacked trends stemming from hashtags related to the World Cup. “At one point, nearly every tweet under the #WorldCup had something to do with IS instead of soccer.” Twitter’s initial reaction was to suspend accounts that violated the user terms of the agreement. The result was creative usernames by IS supporters. Therefore, IS successfully turned a global event into a provocative brochure used for recruiting. Furthermore, in 2014, Twitter estimated that only 5 percent of accounts were bots; that number grew to over 15 percent by 2020. This demonstrates the influence that bots have over content saturation on social media.
III. Conclusion
In Conclusion, State and non-state actors use bots, trends, and polarizing rhetoric to push their agendas domestically and internationally. Today, polarization shapes discussions regarding each conflict and disinformation runs rampant on social media platforms. In 2016, the Russian cyberattacks enhanced malicious information and polarized political conversation, causing confusion and social instability. As a result, Russia’s tampering influenced the public sentiments surrounding the 2021 election’s validity. In 2014, the Islamic State (IS) created an app to help them influences trends and spread propaganda across twitter. IS successfully hijacked trends stemming from hashtags related to the World Cup and shifted the narrative surrounding the event throughout the digital community. Furthermore, social media presents a threat to social cohesion and unity because users select the news that they want to see, the algorithm generates relevant content, and malicious actors impose propaganda onto unknowing users. For these reasons, State and non-state actors use social media as a tool for modern information-age warfare.
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