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The New York Attorney General said it was illegal to sell fake social media engagement in order to inflate his influence online and to rule against a "fake like" trader in a landmark decision in the battle against robots.
The Attorney General of New York State, Letitia James, announced the signing of an agreement on the peddler of influence Devumi LLC and its subsidiaries in connection with a decision without precedent prohibiting companies from selling fake media in the future. The settlement includes a $ 50,000 fine that the owner, German Calas Jr., agreed to pay after pleading against the charges.
"Bots and other fake accounts have been generalized on social media platforms, often stealing the identities of real people for fraudulent purposes., "James said in a statement accompanying the decision.While people and businesses like Devumi continue to earn money quickly by lying to honest Americans, my office will continue to look for and prevent anyone selling deception online. With this settlement, we send a clear message: anyone who profits from deception and identity theft violates the law and will be held responsible.. "
Devumi and its affiliates have generated $ 15 million in fake followers sales, "love, "Views and other social media engaged from 2015 to 2017, activity generated by a stable of 3.5 million robots and"puppets"- a person operating multiple accounts. Some of the fake accounts copied the identities of real people, including their photos, and may have misled Devumi's customers into believing that they were buying an engagement with real humans, according to the decision.
The company also sold social media endorsements "influencers"Without revealing that they were paid. This aspect particularly disturbed James, who noted that "the opinions of influencers can have a particularly strong influence on the reputation and sales of any product, company, service or person that they support. "
Devumi and its subsidiaries closed in August and September, as the Auditor General's investigation generated a wave of negative publicity. Some customers told The New York Times that they regretted the purchase of a fake social media engagement, while others apologized for this practice. "Everyone does it, Said the actor Deirdre Lovejoy to the newspaper.
In all respects, a significant percentage of social media activity is a fake – a recent report said that no less than half of Facebook users are not real, although the company disputes this figure. According to a study conducted in 2017, up to 15% of Twitter users were bots.
The fake users are deployed by companies, celebrities and governments to boost their popularity and obtain their consent. Perhaps the best-known case in America is that of the Russian-based Internet Research Agency, which allegedly used identity theft as part of its efforts to strengthen engagement with social media accounts under its control. control. The approach is quite common for influential sellers and may have been purely commercial, but the American public has been overwhelmingly convinced by the media that it was part of the Kremlin's grand plan to overthrow American democracy.
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Another special case occurred in Alabama during the 2017 special election when fake Twitter accounts were used to give the impression that the Republican candidate was enjoying clandestine support from Russia (who else). The fraud was perpetrated ironically by one of the strongest voices pushing Russia "interference"Story in 2016.
Although puppets with boots and socks violate the terms of service of Facebook and Twitter, they have never been declared illegal – until now. It's up to you, bots.
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