On Friday, potential evidence emerged of someone arranging for Twitter bots and a Facebook ad for a column on an obscure website touting Washington owner Daniel Snyder. Snyder, through his lawyers, has denied such methods to boost the manner in which he is regarded or perceived.
“Dan Snyder unequivocally denies ever using bots or fake accounts to put out favorable news stories,” attorney Jordan Siev said in a statement issued to PFT. “In fact, over the past year, thousands of bots have popped up in a coordinated campaign to spread misinformation about Dan and the Washington Football Team, all of which have been reported as such to various social media sites.”
Bots and burner accounts present a thorny problem when it comes to figuring out who is arranging for clumsily transparent P.R. boosts. It’s become not-uncommon for some to create bots or burner accounts that are obviously trying to advance someone’s reputation or standing in order to create the impression that the person benefiting from the bots or burner accounts is behind it.
In this case, no bots or burner accounts will impact the NFL’s eventual decision on Snyder. Moreover, there is plenty of negative content regarding the longtime Washington owner, and it more than balances out anything that is naturally or artificially positive.