‘We Don’t Track Bots’: What the Media’s Russian Bot Coverage Is Getting All Wrong

CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 20: Political talk radio host Laura Ingraham delivers a speech on the third day of the Republican National Convention on July 20, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

• Establishment media claims “Russian bots” pushing conservative causes are littered with factual errors
• Two groups at the heart of the Russian bot stories debunked media claims about their work
• Multiple media outlets falsely claimed hordes of Russian bots were rallying around Fox News host Laura Ingraham

Media outlets are spreading “inherently inaccurate” stories about “Russian bots” on Twitter, according to the group behind the data cited to support many of those stories.

Outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN have used the Alliance for Securing Democracy’s Hamilton 68 dashboard to blame “Russian bots” for boosting conservative issues and conspiracy theories on social media.