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2 clusters · 11 sources · 7 days · First seen 16 days ago · Last updated 10 days ago

South American political bot farm controversy

Overview

Investigations into digital manipulation and bot farms have expanded across South America, involving political figures in Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile.

The controversy began following technical errors by a misconfigured bot farm linked to Argentine digital strategist Santiago Oría, which revealed automated responses on X. Concurrently, political operator Fernando Cerimedo was arrested in Bolivia, drawing attention to his role in operating bot farms used to inflate traffic for the media outlet ‘La Derecha Diario’.

These developments have led to scrutiny in Chile, where Security Minister Martín Arrau, an ally of President José Antonio Kast, faced allegations regarding his potential involvement in digital strategies designed to keep specific topics trending on social media. While Arrau has denied any connection to Cerimedo or the use of artificial mechanisms, experts have noted that such “astroturfing” tactics can create the appearance of widespread support by using hundreds of thousands of parallel accounts to viralize content.

Entities

Fernando Cerimedo · Santiago Oria · University of Talca · Martín Arrau · La Libertad Avanza

Timeline

10 days ago

[POLITICS] 5 sources
Digital bot farm controversy impacts Chilean political figures
The discovery of a bot farm in Bolivia linked to Fernando Cerimedo has sparked controversy in Chile, involving allegations against Security Minister Martín Arrau regarding digital manipulation strategies.
16 days ago

[POLITICS] 6 sources
Argentina digital strategy exposed by bot farm error
Digital propaganda efforts in Argentina and Bolivia face scrutiny following a bot farm error by strategist Santiago Oría and the arrest of political operator Fernando Cerimedo in Bolivia.

Sources

boliviaverifica.bo · brasilpopular.com · dialogosdosul.operamundi.uol.com.br · elmauleinforma.cl · elmonterizo.com · julioastillero.com · ladiscusion.cl · mediabanco.com · teleSURtv.net · unicef.se · vmasv.cl