Are social media comments just bots?

Chappell Roan recently faced backlash amid online chat that falsely claimed her bodyguard left a young fan in tears. But reports now suggest the entire online drama could have been driven by bots programmed to spread misinformation.

The BBC’s disinformation reporter Jacqui Wakefield explains what bots are, how they work, and what the people who operate them stand to gain. State actors and governments have been linked to specific bot campaigns in the past. BBC Monitoring’s Veronika Malinboym looks at some of the bot activity linked to Russia, including a campaign to undermine the Summer Olympics in Paris by spreading misinformation about a bed bugs outbreak.

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Presenter: Iqra Farooq

Producer: William Lee Adams and Benita Barden

Editor: Julia Ross-Roy