Astroturfing
astroturfing · also Artificial turf
Disguising an orchestrated message as spontaneous grassroots support, hiding who is really behind it, for example with large numbers of fake accounts.
The term comes from AstroTurf, a brand of artificial turf, in contrast with genuine "grassroots" support. Common tactics include using large numbers of accounts to produce seemingly spontaneous posts, comments and likes.
The social-media analysis firm Agoratlas listed this mass production of fake content as one possible explanation for the especially large number of opposing posts on X.
Sources
- Astroturfing (Wikipedia (English), accessed 2026-10-22)
In our stories
One riot, five French forums, five different worlds
Agoratlas listed mass-produced fake content among the possible explanations for X.
Where you look decides what you think "the French" think →
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Last updated 2026-10-22 · Suggest a correction