Y Combinator Startup Podcast
#109 - Samantha Bradshaw
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Show notes
Samantha Bradshaw is a researcher at the Computational Propaganda Project and a doctoral candidate at the Oxford Internet Institute. She’s been tracking the phenomenon of political manipulation through social media.
You can find Samantha on Twitter at @sbradshaww.
The YC podcast is hosted by Craig Cannon.
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Topics
:53 - What is a bot?
2:53 - When computational propaganda began
3:53 - Changes in bot tactics since 2016
5:53 - Using bots for content creation
7:28 - WhatsApp and the upcoming Indian election
9:23 - Trends in computational propaganda
10:53 - How bots integrate into platforms
13:23 - Responsibilities of platforms to remove fake accounts
14:53 - The role of governments in media manipulation
18:18 - Fake news and selecting news that aligns with your beliefs
19:53 - Are platforms getting better or worse?
21:33 - Samantha's personal internet habits
23:03 - Sentiment around tracking in the UK vs the US
24:23 - The Mueller report and US midterms
29:18 - Canadian elections
30:18 - 2020 US elections
30:53 - Deepfakes
31:48 - Optimistic thoughts for the future
33:08 - How to help against computational propaganda