journal.kommunikation-medien / Bots als Wahlkampfhelfer in Großbritannien

Nowadays, parties run their election campaigns specifically on the internet. Hence, the application of social bots on social media platforms is becoming a valid method for political propaganda. Automated programs can distribute numerous messages and foregrounding certain topics, which can have an impact on political debates. Experts fear that bots can influence discussions and the public opinion. Our empirical content analysis investigates if social bots were used during the election campaign of the general election in the United Kingdom in 2017. Bots can be identified on the basis of distinguishing characteristics, discovered in previous research. One of the key results was that tweets encouragedthe young population to vote, which was crucial for the election outcome. Jeremy Corbyn, front runner of the British Labour Party was depicted positively, whereas Conservative Party candidate Theresa May was portrayed negatively. Therefore, in the advent of elections, users should be sensitive to a potential rigging by bots and should reflect on their use of social media critically.(VLID)245476