A new study has revealed that Taylor Swift was the victim of coordinated bot attacks that attempted to paint the singer as a Nazi. The bot creators generated the attacks to encourage outrage among real people online, thus spreading the false narrative even further.
The attacks came shortly after Taylor Swift released her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, in October. The study conducted by the behavioral intelligence platform GUDEA, examined more than 24,000 social media posts and 18,000 accounts across 14 platforms between the day of her album’s release. October 4, and October 18.
“A key finding of this analysis is the role inauthentic narratives played in triggering authentic engagement,” GUDEA wrote. “The false narrative that Taylor Swift was using Nazi symbolism did not remain confined to fringe conspiratorial spaces; it successfully pulled typical users into comparisons between Swift and Kanye West.
“This demonstrates how a strategically seeded falsehood can convert into widespread authentic discourse, reshaping public perception even when most users do not believe the originating claim.”
GUDEA went on to explain, “While the majority of users behaved typically, 3.77 percent exhibited non-typical behavior amplifiers and accounted for 28 percent of the conversation volume, suggesting coordinated influence.”
This bot behavior led to typical users who would not normally engage with conspiracy content participating in the conversation, thereby spreading the misinformation.
A coordinated bot attack to smear Taylor Swift’s reputation could lead to similar, more dangerous maneuvers by bad actors
“That’s part of the goal for these types of narratives, for whoever is pushing them,” GUDEA founder and CEO Keith Presley told Rolling Stone. “Especially with these inflammatory ones – that’s going to get rewarded by the algorithm. You’ll see the influencers jump on first, because it’s going to get them clicks.”
Georgia Paul, GUDEA’s head of customer success, pointed out another concern: that the bot attack on Taylor Swift could serve as a test for a way to fraudulently influence voters.
“There might be other nefarious actors, not U.S.-based, who have reasons to see, ‘If I can move the fan base for Taylor Swift — an icon who is this political figure, in a way — does that mean I can do it in other places?’” she said.
So, the next time a social media post appears to be designed explicitly as “rage bait,” keep in mind that it may be precisely why it was created and disseminated.