Computational propaganda: political parties, politicians, and political manipulation on social media

Social media platforms do not just circulate political ideas, but support computational propaganda and manipulative disinformation campaigns. Although some of these disinformation campaigns are carried out directly by individuals, most are waged by software, commonly known as bots, programmed to perform simple, repetitive, robotic tasks. Including case studies from nine countries and covering propaganda efforts over a wide array of social media platforms, this text argues that bots, fake accounts, and social media algorithms amount to a new political communications mechanism that it terms 'computational propaganda.'

Social media platforms do not just circulate political ideas, but support computational propaganda and manipulative disinformation campaigns. Although some of these disinformation campaigns are carried out directly by individuals, most are waged by software, commonly known as bots, programmed to perform simple, repetitive, robotic tasks. Including case studies from nine countries and covering propaganda efforts over a wide array of social media platforms, this text argues that bots, fake accounts, and social media algorithms amount to a new political communications mechanism that it terms 'computational propaganda.'

Introduction : computational popaganda worldwide / Samuel Woolley and Philip N. Howard -- Russia : the origins of digital misinformation / Sergey Sanovich -- Ukraine : external threats and internal challenges / Mariia Zhdanova and Dariya Orlova -- Canada : building bot typologies / Elizabeth Dubois and Fenwick McKelvey -- Poland : unpacking the ecosystem of social media manipulation / Robert Gorwa -- Taiwan : digital democracy meets automated autocracy / Nicholas J. Monaco -- Brazil : political bot intervention during pivotal events / Dan Arnaudo -- Germany : a cautionary tale / Lisa-Maria N. Neudert -- United States : manufacturing consensus online / Samuel Woolley and Douglas Guilbeault -- China : an alternative model of a widespread practice / Gillian Bolsover -- Conclusion : political parties, politicians, and computational propaganda / Samuel Woolley and Philip N. Howard

Introduction : computational popaganda worldwide / Samuel Woolley and Philip N. Howard -- Russia : the origins of digital misinformation / Sergey Sanovich -- Ukraine : external threats and internal challenges / Mariia Zhdanova and Dariya Orlova -- Canada : building bot typologies / Elizabeth Dubois and Fenwick McKelvey -- Poland : unpacking the ecosystem of social media manipulation / Robert Gorwa -- Taiwan : digital democracy meets automated autocracy / Nicholas J. Monaco -- Brazil : political bot intervention during pivotal events / Dan Arnaudo -- Germany : a cautionary tale / Lisa-Maria N. Neudert -- United States : manufacturing consensus online / Samuel Woolley and Douglas Guilbeault -- China : an alternative model of a widespread practice / Gillian Bolsover -- Conclusion : political parties, politicians, and computational propaganda / Samuel Woolley and Philip N. Howard