Editorials & Other Articles

mahatmakanejeeves

(70,216 posts) Sat Apr 18, 2026, 08:45 AM 12 hrs ago

Hundreds of Fake Pro-Trump Avatars Emerge on Social Media

Reposted by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
https://bsky.app/profile/reichlinmelnick.bsky.social

The New York Times
‪@nytimes.com‬

In the months leading up to the midterm elections, hundreds of accounts have emerged on social media featuring A.I.-generated pro-Trump influencers posting at a rapid pace. Several accounts have already amassed thousands followers. Some of the posts have more than half a million views.

Hundreds of Fake Pro-Trump Avatars Emerge on Social Media
The artificial-intelligence-generated fake influencers have surged on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube in an apparent bid to hook conservative voters.
nyti.ms
10:10 PM · Apr 17, 2026

In the months leading up to the midterm elections, hundreds of accounts have emerged on social media featuring A.I.-generated pro-Trump influencers posting at a rapid pace. Several accounts have already amassed thousands followers. Some of the posts have more than half a million views.
— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) 2026-04-18T02:10:05.587982Z

Hundreds of Fake Pro-Trump Avatars Emerge on Social Media

The artificial-intelligence-generated fake influencers have surged on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube in an apparent bid to hook conservative voters.

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7 replies

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Hundreds of Fake Pro-Trump Avatars Emerge on Social Media (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves 12 hrs ago OP

It's fast becoming a completely fake country 31st Street Bridge 12 hrs ago #1

Where is OUR bot farm??? Scrivener7 12 hrs ago #2

Put me down as a "no." NT mahatmakanejeeves 12 hrs ago #3

Why? And absent our own response, how do we fight their misinformation? Scrivener7 11 hrs ago #4

Fake your supporters, and you're giving in to the RW "truth doesn't matter" push muriel_volestrangler 11 hrs ago #5

The point is that it takes a minimum of cash. And if we don't counteract their message, Scrivener7 11 hrs ago #6

Kick dalton99a 9 hrs ago #7

31st Street Bridge

(230 posts)

1. It's fast becoming a completely fake country

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Sat Apr 18, 2026, 09:02 AM

12 hrs ago

And so the ignorance metastasizes.

Scrivener7

(59,782 posts)

2. Where is OUR bot farm???

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Sat Apr 18, 2026, 09:05 AM

12 hrs ago

Seriously. There is no reason why we are not combating this in kind. It's cheap and it works.

mahatmakanejeeves

(70,216 posts)

3. Put me down as a "no." NT

Reply to Scrivener7 (Reply #2)

Sat Apr 18, 2026, 09:26 AM

12 hrs ago

Scrivener7

(59,782 posts)

4. Why? And absent our own response, how do we fight their misinformation?

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Reply #3)

Sat Apr 18, 2026, 09:45 AM

11 hrs ago

muriel_volestrangler

(106,352 posts)

5. Fake your supporters, and you're giving in to the RW "truth doesn't matter" push

Reply to Scrivener7 (Reply #4)

Sat Apr 18, 2026, 10:11 AM

11 hrs ago

In that situation, the techbros will win. They have more control over the medium, and more cash to produce the propaganda.

Scrivener7

(59,782 posts)

6. The point is that it takes a minimum of cash. And if we don't counteract their message,

Reply to muriel_volestrangler (Reply #5)

Sat Apr 18, 2026, 10:22 AM

11 hrs ago

their message is what people hear.

Because republicans are the party of fiscal responsibility and law and order, amiright? And why is that message so durable? Because they spread it constantly.

We need to get over the "ick." This is the world as it is, not as we wish it was. And if we don't meet it and fight it, it will keep getting worse.

It could even be done perfectly honestly. Some clever funny bot personality that is identified, but that amuses people as it gets the truth across.

So absent matching their bots with ours, and given that they own all the other media, how do we effectively counteract their message?

dalton99a

(94,677 posts)

7. Kick

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Sat Apr 18, 2026, 12:18 PM

9 hrs ago

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