The study by Shao et al. examines the role of social bots in spreading low-credibility content on Twitter during a ten-month period in 2016 and 2017. The researchers analyzed 14 million messages and found that social bots played a disproportionate role in amplifying the spread of articles from low-credibility sources. Bots were particularly active in the early stages of content spreading, before it became viral, and they targeted influential users through replies and mentions. Humans were vulnerable to this manipulation, as they retweeted content posted by bots almost as much as they did by humans. The study suggests that curbing social bots may be an effective strategy to mitigate the spread of online misinformation.The study by Shao et al. examines the role of social bots in spreading low-credibility content on Twitter during a ten-month period in 2016 and 2017. The researchers analyzed 14 million messages and found that social bots played a disproportionate role in amplifying the spread of articles from low-credibility sources. Bots were particularly active in the early stages of content spreading, before it became viral, and they targeted influential users through replies and mentions. Humans were vulnerable to this manipulation, as they retweeted content posted by bots almost as much as they did by humans. The study suggests that curbing social bots may be an effective strategy to mitigate the spread of online misinformation.