Smartphone farms used for social media manipulation revealed

A report on TBS Radio’s ‘Chiki Ogigami Session’ detailed the operations of ‘smartphone farms’ used to manipulate social media engagement and public opinion. Journalist Kensuke Murase presented findings from an investigation involving university students who acted as intermediaries for these operations.

These farms utilize massive computing infrastructures combined with thousands of smartphones to manipulate engagement metrics, such as ‘likes’ and view counts, within seconds. The investigation revealed that these operations can generate significant revenue—estimated at 4.5 billion yen annually—and are capable of influencing public discourse and elections, even if the operators claim they are not directly involved in political campaigning.

The discussion also touched upon the broader risks of artificial intelligence, comparing the current AI development race to the nuclear arms race of the 1950s. Experts warned that losing human control over AI and the unchecked use of social media manipulation tools pose systemic risks to society.