How do I report a Russian political troll Twitter account?
March 24, 2018 12:24 PM Subscribe
A Twitter account that is clearly a Russian political troll has retweeted one of my non-political tweets (about Pokemon of all things). Now that I'm aware of the account, how do I report it to Twitter in a way that they may actually do something about it?
The account is marked as Ukrainian, has a stock image of a model as an avatar, uses #BuildTheWall in the profile, and has pro-Trump tweets mixed in with the non-political stuff. So, the usual. I know that Twitter has... um, "issues" following through on kicking bad actors off of the service, but I'd still like to make the effort to get this account shut down if at all possible.
The account is marked as Ukrainian, has a stock image of a model as an avatar, uses #BuildTheWall in the profile, and has pro-Trump tweets mixed in with the non-political stuff. So, the usual. I know that Twitter has... um, "issues" following through on kicking bad actors off of the service, but I'd still like to make the effort to get this account shut down if at all possible.
Best answer: There is nothing you can do and nobody you can contact that will make them do anything about it.
posted by dilaudid at 2:02 PM on March 24, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by dilaudid at 2:02 PM on March 24, 2018 [4 favorites]
If they are posting anything inflammatory, false, etc. I'd report those tweets. These types of accounts usually say something vaguely racist or share a violent image you can report. There used to be a way to write to Twitter and report accounts with an explanation because I know I did it, but I can't find it anymore so they may have changed their procedures. Now it appears you can only report tweets/profile with the automatic report button.
posted by AppleTurnover at 3:57 PM on March 24, 2018
posted by AppleTurnover at 3:57 PM on March 24, 2018
Best answer: Step 1: block them so they can't see your posts.
Step 2: even if you think nothing will happen, report them.
Step 3: Get your friends to also report and block them.
posted by evilmonk at 5:01 PM on March 24, 2018 [5 favorites]
Step 2: even if you think nothing will happen, report them.
Step 3: Get your friends to also report and block them.
posted by evilmonk at 5:01 PM on March 24, 2018 [5 favorites]
I report them and when it asks me why I am reporting them, I say that they are posting spam. Because they are. That is what a bot is: an automated account generating spammy content.
I report quite a few every day (I tend to be over-vigilant and seek them out; both the Russian bots and the white supremacists with Pepe avatars) and sometimes, though not always, Twitter will give me an update that they either temporarily suspended or outright banned the account.
Sometimes I also flag multiple times- for spam, then for hateful content, etc. If you report an individual comment, be sure to go to their profile and send a report for the actual account as well.
Dilaudid still has the technically correct answer, however. I have gotten quite a few of the Pepe twits (more often than the Russian bots) suspended and they just pop right back up in a new account. They’re like cockroaches, but that doesn’t mean we have to make it easy for them.
posted by nightrecordings at 12:21 AM on March 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
I report quite a few every day (I tend to be over-vigilant and seek them out; both the Russian bots and the white supremacists with Pepe avatars) and sometimes, though not always, Twitter will give me an update that they either temporarily suspended or outright banned the account.
Sometimes I also flag multiple times- for spam, then for hateful content, etc. If you report an individual comment, be sure to go to their profile and send a report for the actual account as well.
Dilaudid still has the technically correct answer, however. I have gotten quite a few of the Pepe twits (more often than the Russian bots) suspended and they just pop right back up in a new account. They’re like cockroaches, but that doesn’t mean we have to make it easy for them.
posted by nightrecordings at 12:21 AM on March 25, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: None of this is true and is very bad advice. Except the part where folks note Twitter makes it hard, BUT IT IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE TO REPORT TROLLS!!
- Click "report" red word under the menu on their page.
- Click "They're pretending to be me or someone else."
- Click the "Someone else" choice when prompted.
You will get an auto reply within a few hours they have received your report. In a few days when a human gets to it you will be notified the user was in violation of terms and services.
I do this all of the time with maybe a 60% success rate, otherwise I don't get any follow up at all.
I don't bother blocking the user. I just report and move on. I'm not trying to catch the wrong people's attention, just have fake accounts removed.
I'm pretty sure if you flag someone for being abusive that is useless so I don't do that.
posted by jbenben at 7:19 PM on March 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
- Click "report" red word under the menu on their page.
- Click "They're pretending to be me or someone else."
- Click the "Someone else" choice when prompted.
You will get an auto reply within a few hours they have received your report. In a few days when a human gets to it you will be notified the user was in violation of terms and services.
I do this all of the time with maybe a 60% success rate, otherwise I don't get any follow up at all.
I don't bother blocking the user. I just report and move on. I'm not trying to catch the wrong people's attention, just have fake accounts removed.
I'm pretty sure if you flag someone for being abusive that is useless so I don't do that.
posted by jbenben at 7:19 PM on March 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
However, none of the options you get really cover "Russian political troll". The closest option is probably "abusive or hateful", but Twitter seems to have a really high bar for that.
posted by fencerjimmy at 12:48 PM on March 24, 2018