Influence operations Bots, Sock Puppets & AI Content — Manufacturing Political Consensus

Coordinated inauthentic networks use automated accounts and AI-generated media to fake the appearance of grassroots support and steer political discourse. Ahead of Germany's February 2025 federal election, researchers documented ~48 core X accounts amplified by 6,000+ reposting accounts — in one case all 202 reposts of a false bomb-threat claim landing in the same minute. Industry reports estimate automated traffic surpassed half of all web traffic in 2024. Meta says it disrupted ~20 covert influence operations in 2024 (most Russia-, Iran- and China-linked) and argues generative AI had only "modest" electoral impact — a claim researchers treat with caution, since absence of a viral deepfake is not absence of sustained manipulation.