On February 10, a Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger commented the arrest of one of the leaders of European Georgia party – Gigi Ugulava. “To say this is disturbing would be an understatement. Using courts as a weapon is NOT democracy” – writes the congressman on Twitter.
The congressman’s tweet has since then received significant feedback from both American and Georgian users of the social network site. As of now, up to 200 users have commented on the tweet. Myth Detector checked the authenticity of user profiles and found 12 suspicious account activities. Part of the suspicious accounts criticized the congressman for supporting Ugulava and interfering in domestic affairs of Georgia, whereas another part of the accounts was referring to Ugulava as a “budget thief”.
- Six accounts were created in 2020, and 4 of them were registered today, on February 11.
- Two different accounts (@Saba9497128 and @anokurtanidze) left identical comments on Kinzinger’s tweet.
Twitter accounts were checked with Botometer, an online tool that evaluates the likelihood of an account being automatized on a 5-point scale. More points mean higher likelihood of the account being a bot.
Account | Activity | Botometer scale |
Nika @Nika80058540 |
Registered on 11.02.2020. The only activity is the comment on Rep. Kinzinger’s tweet.
No personal information/photos. |
4.4 |
gia @gia91859375 |
Registered on 17.07.2019.
Has tweeted 17 times in total and frequently re-tweets official accounts of Giorgi Gakharia and Salome Zurabishvili. |
4.1 |
Ako Siordia @Akosiordia |
Registered on 24.01.2019.
Three tweets in total. |
4.2 |
Pikria @Pikria99437631 |
Registered on 08.01.2020.
Has three tweets in total and all of them are about Adam Kinsinger. |
4.3 |
Зевс @BiNExweY7nhQ3cr |
Registered on 25.06.2019.
Twelve tweets in total, out of which 7 are about Adam Kinsinger. No personal information/photos. |
3.3 |
Aleksandre palavandi @Aleksandrepala1 |
Registered on 26.05.2017.
Six tweets in total. |
3.9 |
nanna @nanna22886340 |
Registered on 11.02.2020.
Has only tweeted once. No personal information/photos. |
3.3 |
qeto bejanishvili @qetobejanishvil |
Registered on 28.01.2014
Three tweets in total. |
4.6 |
ana.mik @anamik24397879 |
Registered on 20.01.2020.
Has only tweeted twice. |
4.1 |
Tornike @Tornike09161678 |
Registered on 11.02.2020.
Has only tweeted once. |
4.4 |
Saba @Saba94971281 |
Registered on 11.02.2020.
Has only tweeted once. |
4.7 |
anna @anokurtanidze |
Registered on 11.07.2019.
Five tweets in total. |
4.4 |
Who are bots?
According to the Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRL), bots are automatized social media profiles that bears characteristics resembling a real person’s profile. Bots can be administered through a sort of a network, as one user can remotely control tens of thousands of automatized accounts.