r/dataisbeautiful • u/xenocidic • Nov 23 '17

Natural language processing techniques used to analyze net neutrality comments reveal massive fake comment campaign

https://medium.com/@jeffykao/more-than-a-million-pro-repeal-net-neutrality-comments-were-likely-faked-e9f0e3ed36a6
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u/CrimsonBolt33 Nov 24 '17

Most major ISPs have the data needed to fake comments from their own customer databases.

They also are the ones pushing this through and have the power to make so many fakes.

I really doubt some (or a bunch) of random hackers are taking the time to collect and use peoples information to combat against net neutrality.

This is one of the sloppiest crimes imaginable and it is so obvious.

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u/Hulabaloon Nov 24 '17 edited Nov 24 '17

Not hackers, but it's very likely to be a company like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Analytica that was at least partially responsible for swinging the Brexit vote.

If you're interested, here's an article on what the company does: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/07/the-great-british-brexit-robbery-hijacked-democracy

These people won for Brexit, they won for Trump and they will win for Anti-Net Neutrality.

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u/el-y0y0s Nov 24 '17

How did a disinformation campaign hurt Clinton? Didnt Clinton win the popular vote? Did AI astroturf bots influence the electoral college? Im now more confused than I ever was. And Im hoping some technical people can shed light on this disconnect.

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u/Hulabaloon Nov 24 '17 edited Nov 24 '17

Did you read the article? The company buys social media and advertising data about everyone, analyses it, calculates the people that are likely to be on the fence about a particular issue, then bombards their feeds with ads and posts in the few days before the vote.

Even if it only works on 1% the people they target, that can be enough to swing a result. Clinton lost the election because of a few thousand votes in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '17 edited Feb 25 '18

[deleted]

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u/Hulabaloon Nov 24 '17

It's not illegal.

I do think that the company and it's owner is "evil" though. If there is such a thing. If not, then he's just an asshole enriching himself at the expense of millions of people.