Mainstream media sees "Russian bots" everywhere: It's a lazy and largely false narrative

Editor's note: This article originally appeared at FAIR.org. Note the latest iteration of this story: Russian Bots Are Rallying Behind Embattled Fox News Host Laura Ingraham as Advertisers Dump Her Show, 4/1/16) Russian Bots Defend Fox News Pundit Laura Ingraham as Advertisers Leave Following David Hogg Tweet, 4/2/18) Russian Bots Are Tweeting Their Support of Embattled Fox News Host Laura Ingraham, 4/2/18) Russian Bots Flock to Laura Ingraham Feud With Parkland Student: Report, 4/2/18) Russian Bots Rush to Laura Ingraham’s Defense in David Hogg Feud Not to be confused with the Russian bots that were heard from after the Austin bombings from last month: Russian Social Accounts Adding to Complaints That Austin Bombings Aren’t Being Covered, 3/19/18) Fallout of Austin Bombings Exposes Racial Tensions, Russian Bots and Media Distrust, 4/1/18) Russian Bots Were Sowing Discord During Hunt for Austin Bomber, Group Says Or the bots from Russia that were seen in the wake of the Parkland massacre: After Florida School Shooting, Russian ‘Bot’ Army Pounced, 2/19/18) After the Parkland Shooting, Pro-Russian Bots Are Pushing False-Flag Allegations Again, 2/16/18) How Russian Trolls Exploited Parkland Mass Shooting on Social Media One problem, though: The “Russian bot dashboard” reporters generally cite as their primary source, Hamilton 68, effectively told reporters to stop writing these pieces six weeks ago. “I’m not convinced on this bot thing,” said Watts, the cofounder of a project that is widely cited as the main, if not only, source of information on Russian bots. No, it ran a story on how Russian bots were fueling these concerns: “Russian Social Accounts Adding to Complaints That Austin Bombings Aren’t Being Covered” : NPR’s Philip Ewing: Well, there’s two things taking place right now. It doesn’t really matter, because “Russian bots support X” reports are a conditioning exercise more than a story.