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Fake social media accounts are mysteriously boosting Becerra’s campaign, report claims

Nypost · · 897 words · By Titus Wu
Campaign Ethics California Gubernatorial Race Digital Disinformation
open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/05/21/us-news/fake-social-media-accounts-are-mysteriousl…

psychologyDetected Techniques

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Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
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Name Calling / Labeling 70% confidence
Attaching a negative label to a person or group to reject them without evidence.
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Whataboutism 90% confidence
Deflecting criticism by pointing to a different issue.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

12 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

info Single Source 6
help Insufficient Evidence 2
schedule Pending 2
verified Verified By Reference 1
verified Verified 1
verified
“Democratic California gubernatorial candidates Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer are both under accusations they improperly paid social media influencers to boost their bids”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence for claim 0 consists of general information about the name 'Xavier', a school, a university, and general Wikipedia entries about California elections and taxes. There is no evidence in the provided results that mentions accusations of improperly paying social media influencers for Becerra or Steyer.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — California Proposition 50, officially known as the Election Rigging Response Act, is an amendment to the constitution of the U.S. state of California, which was passed by voters in a special election …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_California_Proposition_50
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The One-Time Wealth Tax for State-Funded Health Care Programs Initiative, commonly referred to as the California billionaire tax or California wealth tax, is a combined initiated constitutional amendm…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_California_billionaire_ta…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 California gubernatorial election will be held on November 3, 2026, to elect the governor of California. The statewide top-two primary election is scheduled for June 2, 2026. Incumbent Democr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_California_gubernatorial_…
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
“More than 3,000 fake accounts across Instagram, X and Facebook are boosting former Health and Human Services secretary Becerra while attacking billionaire Steyer, according to an analysis by Cyabra”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the evidence confirms Cyabra's existence and its general work in detecting fake accounts (e.g., regarding Amazon or Nicki Minaj), there is no specific evidence provided that mentions a Cyabra analysis of 3,000 fake accounts promoting Becerra and attacking Steyer.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — A whopping 35% of 3,000 accounts posting about Amazon from the start of this year through June 20 were fake, as well, according to Cyabra. A focused analysis of posts on X from June 1 to June 24 found…
https://nypost.com/2025/07/09/business/ai-bots-fuel-boycotts…
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web search NEUTRAL — Cyabra is excited to announce the launch of its new Deepfake Detection Tool, analyzing videos and images with precision. Here’s what you need to know about this growing threat and about Cyabra’s innov…
https://cyabra.com/blog/cyabra-launches-deepfake-detection-t…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The transaction values Cyabra at $70 million, and the company expects the merger to close by the end of the year.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/23/cyabra-a-startup-helping-c…
verified
“It’s [Cyabra] used by clients like NATO and the US Department of State, its website said.”
VERIFIED
The web search result from Cyabra's own site explicitly mentions the 'US State Department' in the context of their platform helping clients, which corroborates the claim that the State Department is a client.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American politician, attorney, diplomat, and former U.S. Army officer who served in the first administration of Donald Trump as the director of …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Pompeo
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Scottish independence (Scottish Gaelic: Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; Scots: Scots unthirldom) is a political movement which advocates for the restoration of Scotland's status as a sovereign state inde…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_independence
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an international military alliance consisting of 32 member states from Europe and North America. It was established at the signing of the North Atlanti…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_states_of_NATO
+ 2 more evidence sources
info
“The alleged fake accounts’ activity drove more than a million views and around 42,000 engagements, per the report.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence mentions Cyabra reports regarding TikTok views and fake profiles in general, but does not provide the specific figures (1 million views, 42,000 engagements) related to the Becerra/Steyer case.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — High level findings from the Cyabra report: TikTok was the dominant platform for misinformation in Cyabra’s analysis, accounting for 72% of all views — more than 105 million — followed by Facebook at …
https://www.bluesquarealliance.org/command-center-insights/t…
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web search NEUTRAL — Examples of fake female profiles uncovered by Cyabra. The research, which utilized Cyabra’s unique technology to identify authenticity, studied 42,037 fake accounts across various social media platfor…
https://cyabra.com/blog/what-makes-fake-profiles-effective-a…
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web search NEUTRAL — Manipulation of Engagement Through Fake Accounts. Cyabra’s analysis identified systematic inauthentic activity within the comment sections of Nicki Minaj’s political posts.
https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000019c-7720-de8a-a1fc-ff607…
info
“One account, for instance, shared a Breitbart article on Steyer’s “extremely radical” immigration platform. The account joined X October 22, but is based in Austria.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence provided for this claim only contains general information about the country of Austria. There is no evidence of a specific X account based in Austria sharing a Breitbart article about Tom Steyer.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Austria is a great holiday destination with impressive nature and rich culture. You can explore marvellous Alpine landscapes, historic cities and first-class ski resorts.
https://www.austria.info/en-us/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Austria, as a unified state, emerged from the remnants of the Eastern and Hungarian March at the end of the first millennium, first as a frontier march of the Holy Roman Empire, it then developed into…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria
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web search NEUTRAL — Discover Austria. Explore Austria facts, culture, history & comprehensive country profile with maps, statistics & research resources for students & travelers.
https://www.countryreports.org/country/Austria.htm
info
“Another account with no profile picture or cover image claimed... that “Steyer wants to buy the Presidency. He tried & failed before.” That April 2026 tweet seemed to be an error”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence contains quotes from Betty Yee stating 'Tom Steyer tried to buy the presidency — and he failed,' which matches the content of the tweet described. However, there is no evidence provided regarding a specific 'April 2026' tweet or an account without a profile picture; the evidence only confirms the sentiment was expressed by a real person (Betty Yee).
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — “Tom Steyer tried to buy the presidency — and he failed. The California governorship is not going to be his consolation prize,” said Democrat Betty Yee, a former state controller. Steyer nodded to his…
https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/california/ap-tom-ste…
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web search NEUTRAL — “Tom Steyer tried to buy the presidency — and he failed. The California governorship is not going to be his consolation prize,” said Democrat Betty Yee, a former state controller.
https://www.aol.com/articles/tom-steyer-running-california-g…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer has run on the slogan of "actions speak louder than words." It may now be time for him to prove it and bring a defamation action against opponent Katie Po…
https://jonathanturley.org/2026/05/12/actions-speak-louder-t…
info
“The account, which says it’s based in D.C. and joined December 2016, has been posting or reposting anti-Trump and pro-Democratic content on a consistent basis.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence provided consists of general information about Donald Trump's political positions and other unrelated articles. There is no evidence of a specific account based in D.C. that joined in December 2016 posting pro-Democratic content.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Donald Trump delivering a speech at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference.In December 2011, Trump changed his party affiliation to "no party affiliation" (independent) to preserve his righ…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Donald_…
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web search NEUTRAL — Pro Trump News The Antidote To Media Bias protrumpnews.com.
https://protrumpnews.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — On 8 December, Trump’s transition team announced that Anton would be appointed director of policy planning at the state department. Anton also served in a communications role in Trump’s first-term nat…
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/21/curtis-yarvi…
info
“at least 80% of them were active in discussions around the 2024 presidential election, particularly amplifying pro-Democratic content and using the same messaging and phrases, such as “MAGA threat.””
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence confirms Cyabra's involvement in tracking 2024 election disinformation and the use of AI-generated content, but it does not provide the specific '80%' statistic or the specific phrase 'MAGA threat' in relation to the accounts mentioned in the claim.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 5, 2024. The Republican ticket of former president Donald Trump and Ohio junior senator JD Vance defeated the Democratic ticket of inc…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_States_presidentia…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The fake accounts used AI-generated content and images to spread their messages. The fake profiles used the hashtags #debate2024 and #presidentialdebate2024 to maximize their visibility. Read Cyabra’s…
https://cyabra.com/blog/us-elections-disinformation-tracker-…
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web search NEUTRAL — That was true of many of the bots identified by Cyabra. “One account will say, ‘Biden is trying to take our guns; Trump was the best,’ and another will say, ‘Jan. 6 was a lie and Trump was innocent,’”…
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bots-pro-trump-2024-election_…
help
“Kaivon Shroff... worked on the digital team for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found after searching for Kaivon Shroff's employment history with Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign.
help
“The Becerra team has denied it ever made payments to a creator in exchange for a post.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found after searching regarding the Becerra team's denial of payments to creators.
schedule
“Steyer’s team said it has [made payments] but properly warned all influencers of proper disclosure requirements.”
PENDING
schedule
“Becerra is the current Democratic frontrunner in the June 2 primary”
PENDING
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.