Fake accounts on social media, epistemic uncertainty and the need for an independent auditing of accounts

Abstract

This article seeks to understand why so little is known about the nature and extent of ‘fake or spam accounts’ across the leading social media companies, why this lack of knowledge is even greater outside the companies themselves and the implications of this epistemic uncertainty. It concludes that authorities, investors and the public should not be solely reliant on the companies for user account figures, and that there is a need for regular, independent, external audits of inauthentic accounts on social media.