Study Reveals Illicit Goods Promotion on Twitter
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📉 Illicit Goods and Services Flourish on Twitter, Study Reveals. A recent study highlights the extensive abuse of social media platforms, particularly Twitter, for promoting illicit goods and services. Utilizing advanced machine learning tools, researchers identified 12 million distinct Posts of Illicit Promotion (PIPs) over six months, spanning ten categories such as drugs, gambling, and weapon sales. The findings also revealed that 580,000 Twitter accounts were involved in disseminating these PIPs, alongside 37,000 instant messaging accounts facilitating communication with potential buyers. Notably, 90% of PIPs managed to evade detection for at least two months, indicating a persistent arms race between Twitter and those promoting illicit activities. The study underscores the urgent need for enhanced monitoring and intervention strategies on social media platforms.
