Log in
Social media is busy with claims that something dramatic just happened to the online environment.
uncertain
something → log → environment
Huge numbers of posts claim that that Russian bot traffic has fallen dramatically across the internet.
uncertain
traffic → claim → internet
And, with that, so has the number of posts and replies from automated accounts on sites such as X, formerly Twitter, and Facebook, the posts claim.
uncertain
posts → have → X
It has led to something of a trend on X, in which users post what they call a “bot test”: an opinion or claim of the kind that would ordinarily lead to an influx of automated responses.
uncertain
that → lead → responses
Some users do indeed claim that they have seen a substantial reduction in the number of replies of a certain kind, and use that to suggest both that the previous responses were from automated accounts and that those accounts have reduced in number.
uncertain
accounts → claim → number
It follows attacks on data centres run by Yandex, the company often referred to as Russia’s Google.
asserted
It → follow → Google
They are part of a broad effort by Ukraine to attack the country’s internet infrastructure.
asserted
They → attack → infrastructure
It is true that, in the wake of the attack, traffic from automated systems has fallen.
asserted
traffic → automate → systems
Data from internet infrastructure company Cloudflare shows a small reduction in “bot traffic” over recent days, for instance.
asserted
Data → show → instance
That is particularly pronounced for traffic from Yandex, which typically accounts for a large amount of automated traffic within Russia.
asserted
which → account → Russia
Cloudflare’s data shows the effect of the attack dramatically: on Sunday morning, after the attack, it drops to nearly zero, and is yet to recover to normal levels.
asserted
it → show → levels
That is in line with statements from Yandex, which says that it is working to restore access to its services.
asserted
it → say → services
Some of them are still entirely offline, it said in a statement on Sunday.
asserted
it → say → Sunday
But it does not necessarily suggest that bots of the kind that post on social media have reduced their activity, or that there has been any meaningful result in the amount of misinformation or general posts from such accounts.
asserted
that → suggest → accounts
While some users have reported that they are seeing less of those posts and accounts, that is not necessarily broadly true and may have nothing to do with the attacks on Yandex.
uncertain
that → report → Yandex
That is because Cloudflare’s “bot” data measures traffic from non-human, automated sources in general.
asserted
data → measure → sources
And those kinds of bots can be used for all purposes, both good and bad.
asserted
kinds → use → purposes
That bad activity is well known, and various.
asserted
activity → know → ?
As well as automated accounts being used on social media to quickly spread misinformation or other problematic posts, they can also be used to search the internet for personal information or launch more specific cyber attacks.
asserted
they → automate → attacks
However, bots are used for plenty of good or morally neutral purposes, too.
asserted
bots → use → purposes
One of the key contributors to such bot traffic is “crawlers”, which scan the internet to gather up data.
asserted
which → scan → data
That can be used to update search engines or to collect data that can be used to train artificial intelligence systems, for instance.
asserted
that → use → instance
Both of those activities are done by Yandex, in much the same way they are used by Google and other rivals.
asserted
they → do → Google
As such, those widely shared charts do not in themselves suggest that there will be any less activity from automated systems that post on social media.
asserted
that → share → media
And there is nothing necessarily to suggest that the attacks have had any impact in that way at all.
asserted
attacks → be → way
The Aporia
