In 2025, we stress-tested the social media ecosystem. As part of the โ๐ฆ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฝ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒโ experiment we examined how easy it is to buy inauthentic engagement and how effectively platforms detect and remove it.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ:
๐น More than 30,000 inauthentic accounts generated over 100,000 fake engagements – all for a relatively small budget.
๐น While enforcement improved compared to previous years, manipulation remains widely accessible, scalable, and increasingly sophisticated.
๐น AI-enabled orchestration allowed fully automated content production and distribution.
๐น Ad manipulation, although more expensive than organic engagement, remains feasible.
๐น Cryptocurrency infrastructure continues to provide low-visibility payment channels.
๐น A shift in amplified narratives toward military themes,, particularly pro-China content, was observed across multiple platforms.
๐น Platforms are improving but the manipulation market is adapting just as quickly.
๐ Main takeaways:
1๏ธโฃ ๐๐ป๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด, ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต
Account and engagement removals increased compared to previous years, yet large portions of fake activity still remain online weeks later. Detection remains uneven across platforms.
2๏ธโฃ ๐๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ ๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐
Fully automated workflows can now generate and distribute content across platforms without human intervention. Modern bots no longer rely on spam volume, they embed themselves into real conversations using AI-generated, context-aware content.
3๏ธโฃ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฝ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ
Low costs, accessible providers, and crypto-based payments enable sustained commercial manipulation. Some providers processed six-figure USD volumes over short periods indicating consistent demand and operational scale.
The core challenge is no longer just spam detection. It is behavioural, financial, and cross-platform coordination detection in an environment where influence operations are becoming cheaper, smarter, and harder to attribute.
Link to the full research report available in comments! โฌ๏ธ
Read the full report here: https://stratcomcoe.org/publications/social-media-manipulation-for-sale-2025-experiment-on-platform-capabilities-to-detect-and-counter-inauthentic-social-media-engagement/338
SocialMedia #Disinformation #AI #StratCom
healthcarereimagined 