Bot Sentinel creator on inauthentic "Sanders supporter" accounts on Twitter

[Dennis Donovan]

Christopher Bouzy @cbouzy

I categorically disagree with the article. There are inauthentic accounts masquerading as Bernie supporters, and Russia is much better at hiding their activity. Using troll farms out of Saint Petersburg is so 2016, they know we are monitoring. Now they are using American pawns...

Chris Sampson @TAPSTRIMEDIA

I ask @BotSentinel leader @cbouzy to respond to the claim/article by @arawnsley about inauthentic activity pretending to be Sanders supporters. Mr Bouzy, do you concur with the article that there is "no evidence" of accounts pretending to be Sanders supporters to attack others?

There are Twitter DM, Discord, and Slack groups dedicated to organizing attacks on candidates by pretending to be the supporters of other candidates, and these groups have been infiltrated by foreign individuals who direct Americans to carry out these attacks.

Why spend a few million paying and training people in Russia to pretend to be Americans, when you can get real Americans to do your dirty work for free? I am not claiming all of the toxic behavior out of Bernie's camp are inauthentic accounts, but many definitely are.

And for the record I am not a Bernie supporter, nor am I trying to give Bernie cover, but it would be unethical for me to stay quiet.

1:44 PM - Feb 21, 2020

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

In response to this article: Experts Say There’s ‘No Evidence’ for Bernie’s Russian Bot Claim

If you follow him on Twitter, you'll know he truly *isn't* a Sanders supporter (by a long shot). But, he's saying that there's a real problem with accounts *posing* as Sanders supporters. 🚨 The next time you hear about Sanders supporters misbehaving on social media - it might be trolls trying to make everyone think they're Sanders supporters (when they are not - they're trying to make Sanders supporters look bad).

[irisblue]

1. I use Bot Sentinel, I like the site

[Hassin Bin Sober]

2. Ironically, campaigns trying to make a an issue out of this are just making it worse.

They are literally increasing the toxicity by peddling this nonsense.

[Dennis Donovan]

3. +1

I want everyone to be aware of this so the beast gets starved.

On edit - I thought it was clear that these efforts are to defame Bernie supporters, not to support Bernie himself. Isn't it? It is to me...

[Happy Hoosier]

4. One has to ask....

... why the bot makers are creating bits to support Bernie?

I think it’s because they know a Sanders nomination is a disaster for us.

[Dennis Donovan]

5. Not to support Bernie, but to defame his supporters

[Happy Hoosier]

8. Yeah, the troll operations are not usually that sophisticated.

They are usually direct and to the point.

No reason to get more complicated than that because it worked in 2016 and it's working in 2020.

[ehrnst]

15. Bernie Sanders briefed by U.S. officials that Russia is trying to help his presidential campaign

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287554197

[redqueen]

6. I am shocked that anyone would be shocked by this

Sanders is making a lot of very rich people very nervous. Warren would be as well if she had the support he does.

[W_HAMILTON]

9. Presumably there are some actual real Sanders supporters on the internet, no?

Why do they not speak up when they see supposedly """imposter""" Bernie Bro types acting out and showing their ass?

I've been on other message boards -- one in particular that is very anti-Sanders -- and if someone says something that is out-of-bounds, they are called out on it. Why do actual real Sanders supporters not do the same for these so-called """imposter""" Bernie Bro types?

[Dennis Donovan]

10. Perhaps they do

I honestly don't know.

[redqueen]

11. Kick

[Dennis Donovan]

13. Ha! Thanks! Given the news, this became even more relevant!

[Dennis Donovan]

12. Kick given related breaking news

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287553959

[RandiFan1290]

14. Thank You! nt