Are bots behind viral Bolivia hashtags?

Twitter accounts pushing #BoliviaNoHayGolpe— “No Coup in Bolivia”— raise some red flags.

Bolivian President Evo Morales meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Morales’ supporters have labeled his resignation earlier this week a “coup” (Kremlin.ru / CC-BY 4.0)

Bolivia is in chaos following the resignation of President Evo Morales Sunday. Facing mass protests, Morales had called for new elections but in the end, he was pressured to stepped down by the nation’s military and police. To supporters of the popular socialist, this sounds a lot like a coup.

A series of hashtags pushing back against the use of the c-word have begun trending on Twitter, the most popular of which is #BoliviaNoHayGolpe, meaning “No Coup in Bolivia.”

Many of the accounts pushing this hashtag present themselves as ordinary Bolivians, but their tweets are formulaic, often using the same exact links and memes—telltale signs of bot behavior.

When I see the military rolling through the streets, the first thing I think is “This is not a coup.” (Twitter)

A closer look at those promoting the hashtag #BoliviaNoHayGolpe is revealing. An analysis of accounts that posted the hashtag in the past 24 hours, shows:

• 40 percent joined Twitter this month.
• 76 percent have fewer than 50 followers
• 60 percent posted fewer than 100…