Research Article
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Political Communication in Computational Propaganda: 23 June 2019 Istanbul Local Elections and Bots, Cyborgs, Trolls in Turkey

Year 2020, Issue: 52, 24 - 45, 30.12.2020
https://doi.org/10.47998/ikad.785151

Abstract

such as troll, bot and cyborgs with are an indispensable part of social media use started to threaten democracy with computational propaganda effects. Therefore, it is important to discover and worth investigating whether these elements were used in the communication on social media in Turkey and if any, what is the level of usage of these elements. June 23rd 2019 Elections offer a suitable environment for such research.
This research is about Twitter trolls, bots and cyborg accounts in Turkey. Binali Yıldırım and Ekrem İmamoğlu, who are candidates for the June 2019 Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality elections, are focused on the accounts that contribute and contribute to the followers and messages of the accounts they run. The purpose of this research is to determine whether the troll account on Twitter, as well as boat traffic and is widespread in Turkey within the cyborg account. From which sources the candidates’ hashtags have been circulated by other users has been realized with the open source software called GitHub TCAT, which works via the Twitter API. Bot or cyborg suspect accounts were found and two of the most active were tracked with Gephi, the network analysis and visualization software. As a result of the research, automated accounts such as cyborg and bot were found. It is concluded that such accounts are being used not just by followers of politicians but also by interest groups trying to create a public agenda.

Project Number

Yok

References

  • BBC, “LA Times’ta ‘robot gazeteci’ devri”. 18 Mart 2014. https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler/2014/03/140318_robot_gazeteci.
  • Bradshaw, S. ve Howard, P. (2017). Troops, Trolls and Troublemakers: A Global Inventory of Organized Social Media Manipulation. Oxford University, Computational Propaganda Research Project, Oxford. Retrieved from http://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2017/07/Troops-Trolls-and-Troublemakers.pdf. Erişim Tarihi: 7 Temmuz 2018.
  • Buckels, E. E., Tramnell, P. D. ve Paulhus, D. (2014). “Trolls just want to have fun”, Personality and Individual Differences, 67, 97-102, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.01.016.
  • Chu, Z., Gianvecchio, S., Wang, H. ve Jajodia, S. (2012). “Detecting Automation of Twitter Accounts: Are You a Human, Bot, or Cyborg?”, EEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, 9 (6), 811-824. DOI: 10.1109/TDSC.2012.75.
  • Dominique, Jackson, (2017). “Complete Guide to Hashtag Analytics”, SproudSocial. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/hashtag-analytics/. Erişim Tarihi: 11 Mayıs 2018
  • Forelle, M., Howard, P., Monroy-Hernández, A. ve Savage, S. (2015, Haziran 25). “Political Bots and the Manipulation of Public Opinion in Venezuela”, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2635800.
  • Habertürk, “Robot gazeteci dönemi başlıyor”. 12 Mart 2010. http://www.haberturk.com/ekonomi/teknoloji/haber/500370-robot-gazeteci-donemibasliyor.
  • Han, Rongbin, (2015). “Manufacturing Consent in Cyberspace: China’s “Fifty-Cent Army”, Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, 44 (2), 105-134. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/186810261504400205.
  • Harris, Ainsley, (2016). Stay Woke–With Help From A Bot, https://www.fastcompany.com/3061995/stay-woke-with-help-from-a-bot. Erişim Tarihi: 7 Temmuz 2018.
  • Howard, P. N., Wooley, S. ve Calo, R. (2018). “Algorithms, bots, and political communication in the US 2016 election: The challenge of automated political communication for election law and administration”, Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 15 (2), 81-93.
  • Hürriyet, “AK Parti’de ‘trol’ sıkıntısı”. 1 Eylül 2015. http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/ak-partide-trol-sikintisi-29959867.
  • Kemp, Simon, (2018, Ocak 30). “Digital Year Book in 2018: Essential Insights into Internet, Social Media, Mobile, And Ecommerce Use Around The World”, Global Digital Report 2018. Hootsuit-WeareSocial. https://wearesocial.com/blog/2018/01/global-digital-report-2018. Erişim Tarihi: 08.07.2018.
  • Khan, Y. ve Thakur, S. (2018). “The Presence of Twitter Bots and Cyborgs in the #FeesMustFall Campaign”. 2018 International Conference on Intelligent and Innovative Computing Applications (ICONIC) (s. 1-5). Plaine Magnien, Mauritius: IEEE. DOI:10.1109/ICONIC.2018.8601294.
  • Kollanyi, B., Howard, P. N. ve Wooley, S. C. (2016). “Bots and Automation over Twitter during”. Oxford University, Project on Computational Propaganda, Oxford, www.politicalbots.org.
  • Lanford, E. C. ve Sued, G. (2017). Hello bots! Social Media Automation Apps. Digital Methods Initiative, https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/SummerSchool2017MethodsMapsHelloBots. Erişim Tarihi: 15 Ağustos 2019.
  • Milliyet, “Japonya’da yapay zeka belediye başkanı adayı oldu”. 16 Nisan 2018. http://www.milliyet.com.tr/japonya-da-yapay-zeka-belediye-populerbilim-haber-2649233.
  • Murthy, D., Powell, A. B., Tinati, R., Anstead,, N., Carr, L., Halford, S. ve Weal, M. (2016). “Automation, algorithms, and politics| bots and political influence: a sociotechnical investigation of social network capital”, International Journal of Communication, 10, 4952-4971.
  • Nimmo, Ben, (2016). Human, Bot or Cyborg? Three clues that can tell you if a Twitter user is fake, https://medium.com/@DFRLab/human-bot-or-cyborg-41273cdb1e17. Erişim Tarihi: 21 Ağustos 2018.
  • Posta, “Japonya’da yapay zeka robotu belediye başkanlığına aday oldu!”. 17 Nisan 2018. http://www.posta.com.tr/japonya-da-yapay-zeka-robotu-belediyebelediyebaskanligina.
  • Saka, Erkan, (2016). “Siyasi Trollük Örneği Olarak Aktroller”, Birikim, (322), 17-21.
  • Saka, Erkan, (2018). “Social Media in Turkey as a Space for Political Battles: AK Trolls and other Politically motivated trolling”, Middle East Critique, 27 (2), 161-177. DOI: 10.1080/19436149.2018.1439271.
  • Sanovich,, S., Stukal, D. ve Tucker, J. A. (2018). “Turning the Virtual Tables: Government Strategies for Addressing Online Opposition with an Application to Russia”, Comparative Politics, 50 (3), 435-482. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5129/001041518822704890.
  • Sözcü, “Robot gazeteci ayda 30 bin haber üretecek”. 31 Temmuz 2017. https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2017/ekonomi/robot-gazeteci-ayda-30-bin-haber-uretecek.
  • Symantec Corporotion. (2018, Temmuz 3). Uk.Norton. https://uk.norton.com/tools/bots/index.html#izmir. Erişim Tarihi: 03.07.2018.
  • Ülkcü Medya, “Mahkum Yakınları 23 Haziran İstanbul Seçiminde Kimi Destekleyeceğini Açıkladı”, 26 Nisan 2019. https://www.ulkucumedya.com/mahkum-yakinlari-23-haziran-istanbul-seciminde-kimi-destekliyecegini-acikladi-123690h.htm.
  • Wooley, S. C. ve Howard, P. N. (2016). “Political Communication, Computational Propaganda, and Autonomous Agents”, International Journal of Communication, 10 (9), 4882-4890.

Siyasal İletişimde Bilişimsel Propaganda: Türkiye’de 23 Haziran 2019 İstanbul Yerel Seçimleri ve Botlar, Cyborglar, Troller

Year 2020, Issue: 52, 24 - 45, 30.12.2020
https://doi.org/10.47998/ikad.785151

Abstract

Sosyal medya kullanımının ayrılmaz parçaları olan trol, bot ve cyborg gibi araçlar, bilişimsel propaganda etkileriyle demokrasiyi tehdit etmeye başlamışlardır. Bu nedenle, Türkiye’de sosyal medya üzerinden yapılan iletişimde bu unsurların kullanıp kullanılmadığı, kullanıldıysa hangi oranda kullanıldığının bulunması önemli bir meseledir ve araştırmaya değerdir. 23 Haziran 2019 Seçimleri, böylesi bir araştırma için iyi bir ortam sunmaktadır.
Bu araştırmada Türkiye’de Twitter trafiği içerisinde trol, bot ve cyborg hesapları konu edinilmiştir. 2019 Haziran İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediye Başkanlığı seçimlerinde aday olan Binali Yıldırım ve Ekrem İmamoğlu’nun Twitter seçim kampanyalarını yürüttükleri hesapların takipçilerine, iletilerine etkileşimli olarak katılan ve katkı sağlayan hesaplara odaklanılmıştır.
Bu araştırmanın amacı, Türkiye’de Twitter trafiği içerisinde trol hesaplarının yanı sıra bot ve cyborg hesaplarının yaygın olup olmadığını belirlemesidir. Adayların hashtagler’inin diğer kullanıcılarca hangi kaynaklardan dolaşıma sokulduğu GitHub TCAT açık kaynak yazılımıyla gerçekleşmiştir. Bot ya da cyborg şüphelisi hesaplara rastlanmış; en aktif ikişer tanesi ağ analizi ve görselleştirme yazılımı olan Gephi ile takibe alınmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda cyborg ve bot gibi otomatikleşmiş hesaplara rastlanmış; bu türden hesapların yalnızca siyasetçilerin takipçi kullanıcıları tarafından değil, kamu gündemi yaratmaya çalışan çıkar grupları tarafından da kullanılmaya başlandığı sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.

Supporting Institution

Yok

Project Number

Yok

References

  • BBC, “LA Times’ta ‘robot gazeteci’ devri”. 18 Mart 2014. https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler/2014/03/140318_robot_gazeteci.
  • Bradshaw, S. ve Howard, P. (2017). Troops, Trolls and Troublemakers: A Global Inventory of Organized Social Media Manipulation. Oxford University, Computational Propaganda Research Project, Oxford. Retrieved from http://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2017/07/Troops-Trolls-and-Troublemakers.pdf. Erişim Tarihi: 7 Temmuz 2018.
  • Buckels, E. E., Tramnell, P. D. ve Paulhus, D. (2014). “Trolls just want to have fun”, Personality and Individual Differences, 67, 97-102, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.01.016.
  • Chu, Z., Gianvecchio, S., Wang, H. ve Jajodia, S. (2012). “Detecting Automation of Twitter Accounts: Are You a Human, Bot, or Cyborg?”, EEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, 9 (6), 811-824. DOI: 10.1109/TDSC.2012.75.
  • Dominique, Jackson, (2017). “Complete Guide to Hashtag Analytics”, SproudSocial. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/hashtag-analytics/. Erişim Tarihi: 11 Mayıs 2018
  • Forelle, M., Howard, P., Monroy-Hernández, A. ve Savage, S. (2015, Haziran 25). “Political Bots and the Manipulation of Public Opinion in Venezuela”, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2635800.
  • Habertürk, “Robot gazeteci dönemi başlıyor”. 12 Mart 2010. http://www.haberturk.com/ekonomi/teknoloji/haber/500370-robot-gazeteci-donemibasliyor.
  • Han, Rongbin, (2015). “Manufacturing Consent in Cyberspace: China’s “Fifty-Cent Army”, Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, 44 (2), 105-134. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/186810261504400205.
  • Harris, Ainsley, (2016). Stay Woke–With Help From A Bot, https://www.fastcompany.com/3061995/stay-woke-with-help-from-a-bot. Erişim Tarihi: 7 Temmuz 2018.
  • Howard, P. N., Wooley, S. ve Calo, R. (2018). “Algorithms, bots, and political communication in the US 2016 election: The challenge of automated political communication for election law and administration”, Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 15 (2), 81-93.
  • Hürriyet, “AK Parti’de ‘trol’ sıkıntısı”. 1 Eylül 2015. http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/ak-partide-trol-sikintisi-29959867.
  • Kemp, Simon, (2018, Ocak 30). “Digital Year Book in 2018: Essential Insights into Internet, Social Media, Mobile, And Ecommerce Use Around The World”, Global Digital Report 2018. Hootsuit-WeareSocial. https://wearesocial.com/blog/2018/01/global-digital-report-2018. Erişim Tarihi: 08.07.2018.
  • Khan, Y. ve Thakur, S. (2018). “The Presence of Twitter Bots and Cyborgs in the #FeesMustFall Campaign”. 2018 International Conference on Intelligent and Innovative Computing Applications (ICONIC) (s. 1-5). Plaine Magnien, Mauritius: IEEE. DOI:10.1109/ICONIC.2018.8601294.
  • Kollanyi, B., Howard, P. N. ve Wooley, S. C. (2016). “Bots and Automation over Twitter during”. Oxford University, Project on Computational Propaganda, Oxford, www.politicalbots.org.
  • Lanford, E. C. ve Sued, G. (2017). Hello bots! Social Media Automation Apps. Digital Methods Initiative, https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/SummerSchool2017MethodsMapsHelloBots. Erişim Tarihi: 15 Ağustos 2019.
  • Milliyet, “Japonya’da yapay zeka belediye başkanı adayı oldu”. 16 Nisan 2018. http://www.milliyet.com.tr/japonya-da-yapay-zeka-belediye-populerbilim-haber-2649233.
  • Murthy, D., Powell, A. B., Tinati, R., Anstead,, N., Carr, L., Halford, S. ve Weal, M. (2016). “Automation, algorithms, and politics| bots and political influence: a sociotechnical investigation of social network capital”, International Journal of Communication, 10, 4952-4971.
  • Nimmo, Ben, (2016). Human, Bot or Cyborg? Three clues that can tell you if a Twitter user is fake, https://medium.com/@DFRLab/human-bot-or-cyborg-41273cdb1e17. Erişim Tarihi: 21 Ağustos 2018.
  • Posta, “Japonya’da yapay zeka robotu belediye başkanlığına aday oldu!”. 17 Nisan 2018. http://www.posta.com.tr/japonya-da-yapay-zeka-robotu-belediyebelediyebaskanligina.
  • Saka, Erkan, (2016). “Siyasi Trollük Örneği Olarak Aktroller”, Birikim, (322), 17-21.
  • Saka, Erkan, (2018). “Social Media in Turkey as a Space for Political Battles: AK Trolls and other Politically motivated trolling”, Middle East Critique, 27 (2), 161-177. DOI: 10.1080/19436149.2018.1439271.
  • Sanovich,, S., Stukal, D. ve Tucker, J. A. (2018). “Turning the Virtual Tables: Government Strategies for Addressing Online Opposition with an Application to Russia”, Comparative Politics, 50 (3), 435-482. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5129/001041518822704890.
  • Sözcü, “Robot gazeteci ayda 30 bin haber üretecek”. 31 Temmuz 2017. https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2017/ekonomi/robot-gazeteci-ayda-30-bin-haber-uretecek.
  • Symantec Corporotion. (2018, Temmuz 3). Uk.Norton. https://uk.norton.com/tools/bots/index.html#izmir. Erişim Tarihi: 03.07.2018.
  • Ülkcü Medya, “Mahkum Yakınları 23 Haziran İstanbul Seçiminde Kimi Destekleyeceğini Açıkladı”, 26 Nisan 2019. https://www.ulkucumedya.com/mahkum-yakinlari-23-haziran-istanbul-seciminde-kimi-destekliyecegini-acikladi-123690h.htm.
  • Wooley, S. C. ve Howard, P. N. (2016). “Political Communication, Computational Propaganda, and Autonomous Agents”, International Journal of Communication, 10 (9), 4882-4890.
There are 26 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language Turkish
Subjects Communication and Media Studies
Journal Section Research Articles
Authors

Barış Yetkin 0000-0003-0577-3363

Project Number Yok
Publication Date December 30, 2020
Submission Date August 25, 2020
Published in Issue Year 2020 Issue: 52

Cite

APA Yetkin, B. (2020). Siyasal İletişimde Bilişimsel Propaganda: Türkiye’de 23 Haziran 2019 İstanbul Yerel Seçimleri ve Botlar, Cyborglar, Troller. İletişim Kuram Ve Araştırma Dergisi, 2020(52), 24-45. https://doi.org/10.47998/ikad.785151