'Fake grass' on social media and the political agenda

The political agenda of the country and the world is changing rapidly and instantaneously. With digital transformation, social media has almost become the primary news source for the masses. So, beyond the arbitrary algorithmic calculations on X, which is closely followed for the political agenda, which accounts are actually setting the agenda?

In fact, while platforms that use so-called "black box" technology—which is non-transparent and, most importantly, has not yet faced digital copyright laws and regulations in our country—run wild, which accounts are creating fake agendas under the guise of "engagement"? As we live in echo chambers in line with our own political preferences during these days when the occupying Israel is attacking Iran with imperialist goals, how will it be possible to reach the truth?

It is becoming increasingly difficult to find the truth amidst the abundance of information and content. Especially fake bot accounts and troll accounts have introduced a new concept: Astroturfing.

The term is actually derived from a strategy used in marketing a product. It originates from AstroTurf, a brand of artificial grass. It is an English term that can be translated as "a widespread public playing field," "creating artificial public opinion," or "creating a nylon mass."

It is a set of actions aimed at creating the impression that there is widespread grassroots support for a person, product, or policy, even though there is none. If the process of creating fake ideas, which are made to look "grassroots," is not viewed critically, the public may believe that these ideas are supported by the majority.

Astroturfing is one of the most effective threats in today's social media. These are activities that appear to be genuine public opinion on social media but are actually coordinated and sponsored. Political blogs, news portals, and websites are overflowing with astroturfing.

Especially in political astroturfing campaigns, 74% of the relevant accounts operate through a simple form of coordination that we call co-tweeting and co-retweeting.

Beyond classic bot campaigns, they are conducted through language, target audience, and official strategy methods. AI-supported bots aim to respond to posts and defend the dictated narrative. They are structures that provide algorithmic responses aimed at acting like humans.

Their methods include showing intense reactions to posts within 5–20 minutes. In fact, they use uniform account profiles and similar language patterns. In these campaigns, often untrue videos are served along with images taken from old events to manipulate perception. These accounts use different strategies, from AI bots to bot teams that bombard with comments, and even accounts with premium badges, to create an illusion of "official, local, or natural content." Some support a post with hundreds of comments in a very short time.

There is also the issue of temporary astroturfing. The goal is to artificially push trends up and then delete them. In other words, coordinated bots share a hashtag, and once it becomes a trend, they delete it; the X algorithm does not count deleted content. It can quickly change public perception, and then the traces are erased, but the effect remains.

Research shows that approximately half of the trends in Turkey are created through similar bot activities. Specifically in Turkey, it has been documented that the state or political parties widely use astroturfing to create fake support on social media.

AK trolls, the pro-government troll army, spread pro-AKP content and publish messages smearing the opposition using fake or stolen X accounts to dictate the political agenda.

For example, campaigns were carried out against Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu with hashtags like #ÇünküÇaldılar (#BecauseTheyStole). Although 7,340 accounts were removed by Twitter, the so-called "grassroots, local, and national" support was actually artificial and manipulative.

Looking at examples from around the world, according to Al Jazeera and S2Jnews analyses, pro-Israel messages on X are retweeted and bombarded with comments by hundreds of bots in a very short time.

The interesting part is that, like a defense system turning upside down on the Iron Dome, astroturfing political campaigns can also hit themselves. The pro-Israel bot supported by FactFinderAI, which was initially created to spread pro-Israel arguments, went off the rails and after a while began calling IDF soldiers "colonizers" and demanded a Palestinian state.

The "Israel War Room" account on X, which has a Gold badge (official organization), created a perception as if it were breaking news during a conflict, imitating Reuters' corporate image. However, it turned out that it posted after Reuters and AP.

Such accounts aim to instill trust by creating an illusion of "official/well-intentioned information." It also has a side that threatens trust and labor in the news and journalism sector. A process that ignores journalistic labor and devalues news is becoming more common every day. As a result of all this, it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand what is news and what is not; what is real and what is true.

X users and the public should be careful about such fake trends and bot-supported content; they should follow sources that engage in real and independent journalism and reporting. Because content seen on social media may not always reflect public support.