Hundreds of Fake Accounts Defended Jensen Huang On Social Media
The Washington Post reports on something peculiar about support for Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang online after he'd told the world he'd been unfaithful to his wife (before reports of his second extramarital affair): Joining the chorus online were voices of seemingly everyday people: a chef, a stock trader, a Hebrew teacher and several environmental activists. But at least 400 of them were fake,…
The Washington Post has uncovered a curious aspect of support for Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang following an admission of infidelity: a significant number of supporters turned out to be fake accounts. According to research by the nonprofit Midas Project, at least 400 of the supporters were fabricated, connected to a public relations firm that had been involved in previous "sockpuppet" campaigns.
Tyler Johnston, executive director of the Midas Project, explained that many of these fake accounts responded to journalists, former U.S. officials, and prominent figures, not only backing Huang but also Nvidia's efforts to sell its advanced chips to Chinese companies. Despite the relatively low reach of these posts, with the most-viewed tweet garnering around 8,000 views and 32 likes, some targeted U.S. lawmakers, including members of the House Select Committee on China, Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Johnston suggested that the staff responsible for these lawmakers' accounts might be attentive to how their messages were received. The Midas Project identified the accounts as part of a coordinated campaign due to similarities in creation times, refreshed user names, profile photos, and engagement on specific, seemingly unrelated topics.
Once Johnston published his findings, several accounts deleted or had their posts removed by X, with at least 260 deactivated or suspended.
Written by urgent.news from Slashdot's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
