ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 defines key terms such as “bot,” “troll,” “sockpuppet,” and “cyborg.” It considers charges of election meddling against Russia in the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA), particularly as they concerned social media manipulation by Russia’s Internet Research Agency (IRA). The chapter critiques ICA claims, arguing that when placed in the context of the full volume of social media communication, IRA influence was small, had little impact – even when the significance of the “rust belt” is taken into account – especially when compared to the far greater impact of legacy media such as Fox News. Focus on the IRA to the exclusion of the machinations of Cambridge Analytica (US) and its British parent SCL, of the much wider phenomenon of bot and “influencer” manipulation generally, or of the roll of the CIA and similar intelligence activity in social media manipulation, is profoundly deceptive.
