2018/01/31 by Robert Gorwa, Douglas Guilbeault · 1 citation
Computer Science · Social Sciences · #Ambiguity #Computer science #Face (sociological concept) #Internet Traffic Analysis and Secure E-voting #Internet privacy #Law #Misinformation and Its Impacts #Political science #Politics #Presidential system #Public relations #Social media #Social science #Sociology #Spam and Phishing Detection #Typology #Unpacking #cs.CY
paper · pdf · doi:10.1002/poi3.184
published as Policy & Internet 2018 · Pre-publication version: please consult the final for page numbers and references
arxiv created 2018/07/28 · openalex publication_date 2018/08/10 · arxiv updated 2018/08/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Amid widespread reports of digital influence operations during major elections, policymakers, scholars, and journalists have become increasingly interested in the political impact of social media bots. Most recently, platform companies like Facebook and Twitter have been summoned to testify about bots as part of investigations into digitally enabled foreign manipulation during the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. Facing mounting pressure from both the public and from legislators, these companies have been instructed to crack down on apparently malicious bot accounts. But as this article demonstrates, since the earliest writings on bots in the 1990s, there has been substantial confusion as to exactly what a “bot” is and what it does. We argue that multiple forms of ambiguity are responsible for much of the complexity underlying contemporary bot‐related policy, and that before successful policy interventions can be formulated, a more comprehensive understanding of bots—especially how they are defined and measured—will be needed. In this article, we provide a typology of different types of bots, provide clear guidelines for better categorizing political automation, and unpack the impact that it can have on contemporary technology policy. We conclude by outlining the main challenges and ambiguities that will face both researchers and legislators as they tackle bots in the future.