The public accountability of social platforms: lessons from a study on bots and trolls in the Brexit campaign

@article{Bastos2018ThePA,
  title={The public accountability of social platforms: lessons from a study on bots and trolls in the Brexit campaign},
  author={Marco Toledo Bastos and Dan Mercea},
  journal={Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences},
  year={2018},
  volume={376}
}
  • M. Bastos, Dan Mercea
  • Published 6 August 2018
  • Business
  • Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
In this article, we review our study of 13 493 bot-like Twitter accounts that tweeted during the UK European Union membership referendum debate and disappeared from the platform after the ballot. We discuss the methodological challenges and lessons learned from a study that emerged in a period of increasing weaponization of social media and mounting concerns about information warfare. We address the challenges and shortcomings involved in bot detection, the extent to which disinformation… 
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