Are Russian bots running Rahul Gandhi’s Twitter account? BJP wants to know

A Twitterbot is a software which may autonomously perform actions such as tweeting, retweeting, liking, following, unfollowing or direct messaging other accounts.

Are bots running Rahul Gandhi's campaign on Twitter? The sudden rise of the Congress vice-president's popularity on Twitter has come in for questioning by the BJP.

Information and broadcasting minister Smriti Irani tweeted, tagging a news agency report suggesting use of fake retweets by the Congress, "Perhaps @OfficeOfRG planning to sweep polls in Russia, Indonesia and Kazakhstan?"

The news agency had reported that a number of automated bots or web robots that can produce automated mass retweets with a Russian, Kazakh or Indonesian characteristic have been frequently retweeting Gandhi's posts on Twitter.

A Twitterbot is a software which may autonomously perform actions such as tweeting, retweeting, liking, following, unfollowing or direct messaging other accounts.

The agency report said that on October 15, "OfficeofRG" retweeted US President Donald Trump's tweet praising American-Pakistani relations with a caption "Modi ji quick, looks like President Trump needs another hug".

The tweet quickly reached 20,000 retweets and currently has touched 30,000, the report claimed, adding a close analysis of this tweet showed that these alleged bots with a Russian, Kazakh or Indonesian characteristic were routinely retweeting the Congress vice-president's tweets.

Countering Irani's attack on Mr Gandhi, former MP and chief Congress social media cell Divya Spandana rubbished the reports on use of alleged bots.

In a tweet she said that the agency story "is factually wrong... can understand your eagerness to please the information and broadcasting minister and the 'Bots Janata Party'."

OneIndia News