Tech Roundup: How bots influence Brazilian politics

This week’s topics: The use of bots in Brazilian politics is the subject of a new study. Remote working looks here to stay. São Paulo wants to bring solar energy to more than 700 schools. 

The use of bots in Brazilian politics

The 2018 election saw social media become the key means of communication in Brazilian politics, dethroning television and radio ads by delivering content specifically crafted for each cluster of voters. And that content is relayed mainly by bots. 

• A study by the Institute for Technology and Society of Rio de Janeiro (ITS Rio) has mapped how bots are used to deliver political messaging to Brazilian voters.

Why it matters. In 2020, bots accounted for 40 percent of total internet traffic, playing a major role in spreading misinformation. At best, they pollute public speech. At worst, “they significantly shape opinions and distort debates,” Thayane Guimarães, one of the authors behind the study, told The Brazilian Report.

Findings. ITS Rio has developed an algorithm that analyzes Twitter profiles based on their followers and who they follow, the content published, language employed, and sentiment transmitted. 

• One in four profiles discussing the reintroduction of paper ballots as a supplement to Brazil’s 100-percent electronic voting system is likely a bot.
• These profiles publish content 24 hours a day, in a strategy that aims to reach the highest number of netizens possible.

Moving the needle. President Jair Bolsonaro has repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of Brazil’s voting system, despite showing no evidence to support his claims. 

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