SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 22, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Twitter said Friday it suspended 70
accounts for spam-like posts supporting Democratic presidential hopeful
Michael Bloomberg, whose campaign has hired hundreds of people to promote him
on social media.
“We have taken enforcement action on a group of accounts for violating our
rules against platform manipulation and spam,” a spokesperson for the
platform said.
Some of the accounts are now banned while others can be re-authorized once
the users behind them verify they are in control, Twitter said.
The Wall Street Journal revealed Wednesday that the billionaire former New
York mayor has hired around 500 people in California at $2,500 a month to
regularly post messages supporting him on social media and to send text
messages to their friends.
The technique blurs the lines between political advertisement and promotion
by ordinary activists on social media networks, which are grappling with how
to handle political content and prevent abuse.
Twitter prohibits sending identical tweets from multiple accounts, as is
often the case with spam, and “coordinating with or compensating others to
engage in artificial engagement or amplification.”
It also bans creating “fake” engagement with “duplicative” content.
The policies were triggered by Russia-backed accounts used in an effort to
sway the outcome of the US presidential race in 2016.
Facebook is also planning a response to Bloomberg’s online campaign
methods, according to US media.
Bloomberg has shattered the record for campaign advertising, spending a
staggering $364.3 million and counting, ad tracker Advertising Analytics
reported.
On Friday, the candidate mocked Donald Trump with a giant billboard on the
Las Vegas Strip as the president visited the city for a rally.
“Donald Trump lost the popular vote,” read one slogan, while another said
“Donald Trump’s wall fell over.”