Understanding Potential Cyber-Armies in Elections: A Study of Taiwan

Ming-Hung Wang, Nhut-Lam Nguyen, Shih-chan Dai, Po-Wen Chi and Chyi-Ren Dow
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Ming-Hung Wang: Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science, Feng Chia University, Taichung 40724, Taiwan
Nhut-Lam Nguyen: Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science, Feng Chia University, Taichung 40724, Taiwan
Shih-chan Dai: Department of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
Po-Wen Chi: Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei City 11677, Taiwan
Chyi-Ren Dow: Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science, Feng Chia University, Taichung 40724, Taiwan

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: Currently, online social networks are essential platforms for political organizations to monitor public opinion, disseminate information, argue with the opposition, and even achieve spin control. However, once such purposeful/aggressive articles flood social sites, it would be more difficult for users to distinguish which messages to read or to trust. In this paper, we aim to address this issue by identifying potential “cyber-armies/professional users” during election campaigns on social platforms. We focus on human-operated accounts who try to influence public discussions, for instance, by publishing hundreds/thousands of comments to show their support or rejection of particular candidates. To achieve our objectives, we collected activity data over six months from a prominent Taiwan-based social forum before the 2018 national election and applied a series of statistical analyses to screen out potential targets. From the results, we successfully identified several accounts according to distinctive characteristics that corresponded to professional users. According to the findings, users and platforms could realize potential information manipulation and increase the transparency of the online society.

Keywords: social networks; political propaganda; cyber-army; information manipulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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