New York: Automated accounts or “bots” played a “disproportionate” role in spreading misinformation online during the 2016 US presidential polls, revealed an analysis of 14 million messages and four lakh articles shared on Twitter. Researchers from the Indiana University in the US identified a mere six percent of Twitter accounts that acted as bots and were enough to spread 31 percent of the “low credibility” information on the network. These accounts were also responsible for 34 percent of all articles shared from “low credibility” sources. “This study finds that bots significantly contribute to the spread of misinformation online as well as shows how quickly these messages can spread,” said lead author Filippo Menczer, Professor at the varsity. The analysis also revealed that bots amplify a message’s volume and visibility until it’s more likely to be shared broadly, despite only representing a small fraction of the accounts that spread viral messages. (IANS)