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For nearly a decade, we’ve been hearing about “Russian bots” on social media. Arguably, the peak of Russian bot mania came during the 2016 presidential election, when the whole “Russia-Russia-Russia” conspiracy theory involving former President Donald Trump first appeared.
Ever since then, just about anything positive that’s said about Russia online has been attributed to bots. After all, how could a human being possibly have anything good to say about Russia? Only bots could be that stupid.
The return of the bots
And now we’re seeing yet another return of the Russian bot narrative, this time spliced together with fears about AI mixed in. What could be more dangerous, after all, than an AI-powered Russian bot?
Good thing, then, that the FBI recently staged a massive crackdown on Russian bots. The FBI says it raided nearly 1,000 social media accounts pushing out misinformation and lies. The accounts were entirely fictitious, and used American-sounding names to give the impression that good things being said about Russia online were from good, upstanding American citizens just like you and me.
But as the FBI alleges, this was actually all part of a dastardly plot by the Russian intelligence agencies and the Russian government to spread AI-powered state propaganda. Artificial intelligence programs were used to create names and profiles, while sophisticated AI-powered algorithms were used to push out exactly the right type of misinformation that could be used to bewilder, amaze, and stun into submission everyday Americans.
How bad were the bots?
On the surface, the idea of the FBI cracking down on Russian bots and AI-powered state propaganda sounds like a good thing. If you are somebody who believes in the “Russia-Russia-Russia” conspiracy theory, you’re probably breathing a sigh of relief right now. We finally got those pesky Russians!
But if you dig a little deeper, you can quickly see how banal this new Russian bot narrative really is. For one, the accounts were not always spreading misinformation and lies. Sometimes, they were simply spreading “geopolitical narratives” that were out of sync with current policy in Ukraine. In other words, they were simply offering a different take on what’s happening over there. As evidence of misinformation and disinformation, the FBI suggested that a video clip of Vladimir Putin giving a speech might actually count.
To me, this doesn’t really sound as pernicious as the Russian bot crowd would have you believe. Plus, as even the FBI admits, this whole Russian bot operation seemed to be some kind of side project launched by a former deputy editor at RT (formerly known as Russia Today), and not part of a calculated policy being carried out by the Russian government.
While you could argue that RT exists as an arm of the Russian government, you could also argue that about just any American-funded operation overseas. For decades, the Russians have been complaining about Americans using Voice of America and similar types of broadcasts to share American propaganda and foment internal Russian dissent. And, for decades, the Russians have argued that many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working within Russian borders are actually just CIA fronts.
Beware the Russian bots on Election Day
That being said, it’s fair to say that where there’s smoke, there’s also fire. So maybe Russia really is working behind the scenes to influence the opinions of everyday Americans. So beware the Russian bots on Election Day. If there’s one day that a random “John Smith” spouting lies and disinformation about America may attempt to change your vote, it’s then.
