Around 40% of accounts amplifying Mario Nawfal’s X posts show bot-like signals, CAM study shows
Nawfal is a Lebanese-Australian entrepreneur, business influencer, podcast host, and political commentator who co-founded NFT Technologies and serves as CEO and founder of IBC Group.
A study by the Antisemitism Research Center of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) found that around 40% of accounts amplifying the most-shared posts by news aggregator Mario Nawfal showed bot-like signals, according to a report released on Tuesday. The study analyzed 10,015 unique X/Twitter accounts that amplified 230 of Nawfal's most-shared original posts published between August 29 and October 12.
The report used a detection model to identify accounts exhibiting bot-like behavior, such as high posting rates, odd posting hours, repetitive text, default avatars, and suspicious follower patterns. Out of the evaluated accounts, 4,054 (40.5%) displayed strong bot-like signals, while 244 (2.4%) exhibited moderate bot-like signals.
The remaining accounts contained inauthentic signals but did not display bot-like behavior. The study highlighted that Nawfal's content leans pro-Russian and hostile to Israel, and his team does not vet posts for accuracy. The dynamic created by the account and its amplifier network "can push unverified claims and state-aligned narratives, including against Israel, to millions of users while appearing to reflect genuine public interest."
CAM called on X to enforce its platform manipulation policy more effectively, particularly in relation to amplifier networks around high-reach accounts.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
