Dozens of Twitter accounts that were promoting presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg have been suspended.
The social media platform said late Friday it was taking action against 70 accounts, some of which will be banned permanently, because they were violating the company’s manipulation and spam policies.
“We have taken enforcement action on a group of accounts for violating our rules against platform manipulation and spam,” a Twitter spokesman told the Los Angeles Times. The outlet also published a screenshot showing accounts that posted the same exact tweet: “A President Is Born: Barbra Streisand sings Mike’s praises. Check out her tweet.”
Twitter said the accounts violated the social media platform’s rules when they posted the same content repeatedly. This broke the “Platform Manipulation and Spam Policy” which was implemented after Russia bot accounts used the same technique in 2016.
Sabrina Singh, a spokeswoman for the Bloomberg campaign, said, “We ask that all of our deputy field organizers identify themselves as working on behalf of the Mike Bloomberg 2020 campaign on their social media accounts. Through Outvote [a voter-engagement app], content is shared by staffers and volunteers to their network of friends and family and was not intended to mislead anyone.”
The Bloomberg campaign has relied heavily on a having a strong social media presence. The former New York City mayor’s campaign offered $150 for verbal or still images for posts that support him while specifically seeking “microinfluencers.”
Bloomberg’s team posted an advertisement for social media influencers on the service Tribe, which connects influencers to paid opportunities promoting brands. The ad says Bloomberg is “a proven supporter of progressive values” and instructs influencers to “be honest, passionate and be yourself!” in their support of the billionaire.
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