On Social Media, Lax Enforcement Lets Impostor Accounts Thrive<br />“One of them seems to be selling things.”<br />A Times investigation last month found that many real accounts are copied and turned into automated “bots” sold by companies like Devumi, a firm now based in Colorado<br />that is under investigation by attorneys general in Florida and New York.<br />Yet social media companies often fail to vigorously enforce their own policies against impersonation, an examination by found, enabling the spread of fake news<br />and propaganda — and allowing a global black market in social identities to thrive on their platforms.<br />“I think they’ve still got more work to do.”<br />Leaders of some social media companies have said they are trying hard to grapple with impersonation.<br />Millions of them are controlled by private companies<br />that sell fake followers and other forms of social media engagement to celebrities, professional athletes and authors.<br />And even as social media accounts evolve into something akin to virtual passports — for shopping, political activity<br />and even gaining access to government services — technology companies have devised their own rules and standards, with little oversight or regulation from Washington.<br />Millions of accounts impersonating real people roam social media platforms, promoting commercial products<br />and celebrities, attacking political candidates and sowing discord.<br />“I think the companies themselves were slow to recognize this threat,” said Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia.
