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The Bot Blocker Project (antibot4navalny) has studied a network of more than 1,360 fake X accounts that have spent the past ten months furthering the agenda of Donald Trump’s administration while also supporting former DOGE head Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
According to the study, the bots attack Trump’s critics, including Judge Juan Merchan (who presided over Trump’s case involving hush money payments),former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney (of the Jan. 6 committee), ABC News, and journalist George Stephanopoulos. Also targeted were liberal Reps. Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who had criticized Musk for dismantling USAID.
The botnet has been active in key swing states. In Ohio, fake accounts spoke out against a bill on online gambling, possibly to help Republican Governor Mike DeWine, and praised Secretary of State Frank LaRose. Both politicians sit on the state’s redistricting commission, which has been involved in gerrymandering in favor of Republicans.
The network promoted key points of the Republican Party’s 2024 platform: the release of the Epstein files, lowering medicinal drug prices, strengthening borders, and deporting immigrants who have committed crimes. The bots also backed defunding Planned Parenthood as part of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Budget Bill.”
Researchers note that approximately 80% of the accounts were created in September–October 2024. A quarter of the posts were published at a speed of more than 200 words per minute, which is impossible for a human user. The bots maintained intervals of at least 10 seconds between posts. The network received 123,000 replies with a total reach of 4.7 million views. Nearly half of the posts got likes or comments.
According to the study’s authors, the U.S. has become one of the first G7 countries to use bots domestically outside of the election cycle — a practice typical only of authoritarian states. The network was initially detected by Clemson Hub and Alethea Insights.
Earlier, Bot Blocker revealed that the Kremlin-linked bot network Matryoshka was behind a systematic campaign targeting Moldovan President Maia Sandu.