Price of a bot army revealed across online platforms
a day ago
- #Trust and Safety
- #Online Manipulation
- #Fake Accounts
- The Cambridge Online Trust and Safety Index (COTSI) tracks real-time prices for buying fake account verifications on over 500 online platforms globally.
- Fake account verification costs vary by country, with Japan and Australia being the most expensive due to SIM costs and photo ID rules.
- Prices for fake accounts on Telegram and WhatsApp spike during national elections, suggesting demand for influence operations.
- SIM card regulation and transparency measures like labeling account origins could help combat online manipulation.
- A sophisticated bot can run influence campaigns through hundreds of fake accounts, with generative AI making them harder to detect.
- COTSI monitors both prices and stock of fake accounts across various platforms, including social media, dating apps, and cryptocurrency exchanges.
- Telegram and WhatsApp are among the most expensive platforms for fake accounts, likely due to their use in influence operations.
- The manipulation market is dominated by vendors in China and Russia, with Russian and Chinese payment systems commonly used.
- Understanding the cost of online manipulation is the first step to dismantling the business model behind misinformation.