AI: Boot networks accused of stirring tensions after the assassination of Charlie Kirk

Less than twenty-four hours after the assassination of Charlie Kirk in Utah, the social network X was overwhelmed with messages calling for revenge and evoking a civil war. Thousands of publications, often written in identical terms, point the left as a manager. Faced with this surge, several researchers suspect artificial amplification. Behind these calls for violence, part of the accounts have the characteristics of automated networks.

Calls to civil war from the first hours

A few hours after the announcement of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, which occurred during an event in Salt Lake City (UTAH), the X platform (ex-Twitter) was invaded by hostile messages calling for civil war or reprisals against the American left, while the EU prepares significant sanctions against said social network.

These publications, often repeated word for word, quickly attracted attention to their bellicose tone and dazzling propagation. Sentences such as “It's war”,, “The left will pay for that” Or “You have no idea what is happening” have returned many times, emanating from accounts to very similar and not very engaging profiles.

Political scientist Branislav Slantchev, professor at the University of San Diego, summed up the situation in these terms on X: “We will see many accounts push, in reality, to a civil war in the United States. This includes the master of provocation, Elon Musk, but also an army of Russian and Chinese bots, as well as their zealous relays in the West ”.

What many users and researchers have noted is the high concentration of profiles that meet recurring criteria, suggesting algorithmic or automated amplification: content:

• Profile photos generated by AI or borrowed from image banks;

• Generic biographies, often limited to a few keywords (Christian, Maga, Patriot, etc.);

• Systematic information of the type “No dms” present on many accounts involved in this propagation;

• Patriotic banners and visuals, American flags or quotes from conservative figures;

• A very low activity history, apart from publications related to this event;

• The very tight publication timing, with similar messages published several times.

These elements, taken separately, do not constitute formal proof of automation. However, their accumulation and homogeneity have fueled suspicions of a disinformation or amplification operation orchestrated on X, exploiting the shock caused by the assassination of Kirk.

Suspicions of manipulation by AI without formal proof

If the signals of a possible orchestrated manipulation are numerous, no public authority, no cybersecurity center, or even large platforms have, to date, confirmed the existence of a coordinated boots campaign linked to this event.

However, several studies recall that foreign operations of amplification of polarizing discourse, such as “spamouflage” (network attributed to China) or “Doppelgänger” (pro-Russian influence campaign), have already targeted the United States via networks of false accounts and content generated by IA.

In 2024, a Global Witness survey had identified 45 banal appearance accounts, which had only generated more than 4 billion impressions around polarizing content.

The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence technologies today makes these campaigns more difficult to detect. Publications with human tones, with impeccable spelling and published at credible hours, can now be produced on an industrial scale.

A study published in Plos One Last February also indicates that since the acquisition of X by Elon Musk, the volume of hate speech has increased, without the proportion of inauthentic accounts decreasing.

While the UN is increasingly warning against Deepfakes, the magnitude and virulence of this new wave of civil war calls on X are perhaps only the first signs of a larger battle, led through algorithms and servers. If the thesis of foreign interference remains to be confirmed, it underlines a fundamental truth: modern political chaos is no longer triggered only in the ballot boxes or the streets, but also, and perhaps above all, behind the scenes of the code.