Organised social media manipulation campaigns were found in each of the 81 surveyed countries, up 15% in one year, from 70 countries in 2019. Governments, public relations firms and political parties are producing misinformation on an industrial scale, according to the report. Social media has become a major battleground, with firms such as Facebook and Twitter taking steps to combat ‘cyber troops’, with some $10 million has been spent on social media political advertisements. It finds:79 countries used human accounts,57 counties used bot accounts, and14 countries used hacked or stolen accounts. The report finds:76 countries used disinformation and media manipulation as part of their campaigns,30 countries used data-drive strategies to target specific users with political advertisements,59 countries used state sponsored trolls to attack political opponents or activists in 2019, up from 47 countries in 2019.
