A Legal Look At Social Media Bots By Andrew L. Rossow, Esq.
Examining the world of social media bots through a legal lens In the world of social media, having a large number of followers or subscribers is everything. But what happens when the accounts you follow are actually purchasing these followers, and not truly earning them? What happens when quantity starts to diminish the quality of the content being shared? Companies like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook have been experiencing the effects of a new social media weapon that allows users to grow their following base to the thousands within minutes. Is Social Media Becoming a “Pay to Play” Battlefield? Devumi, a company that offers services to help increase one’s social media reach, has been accused of selling social media “bots,” specifically as it pertains to the Twitter platform, to businesses, celebrities, politicians, and other influencers to help increase their following and popularity. The company is under investigation by the New York Attorney General for identity theft of real-time accounts. Bots are fake social media accounts, designed to help the user perform actions such as liking, commenting, and following other accounts through automation. The bot is able to autolike, auto-follow, and even auto-comment on posts that fit within its specified parameters, based off the use of hashtags or content filtering posts. And this happens instantaneously. While Devumi isn’t the only company providing such services, social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram are aware of the issue, catching 6.4 million bots a week, coming out to be almost half a million bots a day. “[These] tactics used by [companies like]
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INNOVATION & TECH TODAY | SPRING 2018
Devumi’s emphasis on producing social media bots to create fake accounts has landed it in the New York Attorney General’s investigatory doghouse. (Getty Images/iStockphoto / Screenshot I&T Today )
Devumi on our platform and others…violate our policies and are unacceptable to us,” announced the Twitter PR team. In an attempt to grow a larger following, many developing social media users purchase fake followers from a variety of bot makers across the world, hence the strange usernames, pictures, and information (or lack thereof). These accounts, however, are copies of real-life accounts, only slightly altered in image, name, and content. Once acquired, they are marketed to users worldwide seeking to increase their reach.
Is This the New Digital “Lemon Law?” But is purchasing popularity online against the law? It depends. This is a new type of cybercrime that’s marketed towards millennial users and a younger audience. There are arguments on both sides. There are three parties here: the bot makers, the companies purchasing the bots, and lastly, the consumer. This is a gray area because, technically, there isn’t an actual victim to this activity. From the seller’s perspective (bot makers and businesses), they are entering into a contract to purchase accounts with the understanding they
