Astroturfing to the 10th power
The myriad mediocre projects of a MAGA social media consultant
Although much of the reporting in U.S. media on politically motivated social media manipulation has focused on overseas troll farms, this sort of activity is often home-grown and sometimes carried out in plain sight by social media consultants working for major campaigns. One name that turns up repeatedly when digging into various pro-Trump Twitter spam efforts is Jason Sullivan, a self-styled social media expert and “wizard of Twitter”, originally hired by Roger Stone to work on Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. He is perhaps best known for the creation of the Power10 retweet automation software, which was used to artificially amplify pro-Trump content, but he has dabbled in other forms of online astroturfing as well (most of which were eventually shut down by Twitter).
Sullivan’s longest-running known project was the Power10 retweet automation software, which was activated sometime prior to January 19th, 2018 and was eventually shut down on September 19th, 2019, accompanied by suspensions for several dozen users of the software. This software, which was billed as a “secret weapon” despite being publicly accessible to anyone on the Internet, allowed its users to select a list of Twitter accounts that their own Twitter account would then automatically retweet in perpetuity with no further action from the user. The tool was mostly used to amplify the tweets of various pro-Trump Twitter accounts (as well as Donald Trump himself, who probably didn’t need the help). Sullivan’s involvement in the Power10 tool was first documented in a now-removed Twitter thread by researcher Cody Webb, archived here.
The Power10 retweet automation software was used by at least 73 distinct Twitter accounts, although this included several cases where multiple accounts were operated by the same person (i.e., podcaster Ann Vandersteel’s @annvandersteel and @TheSteelTruth accounts, at least six accounts belonging to right-wing influencer Joey Mannarino, etc.) Among the more notable users were MAGA cartoonist Ben Garrison (@GrrrGraphics), Latinos for Trump co-founder Marco Gutierrez, the aforementioned Ann Vandersteel, and Jason Sullivan himself. Some of the smaller accounts were almost entirely automated, with Twitter feeds that consisted mostly or exclusively of retweets produced by the Power10 software, while others engaged in organic tweeting alongside the Power10 retweets. Shortly prior to being shut down by Twitter in September 2019, Power10 was generating at least 106580 retweets per month.
In August 2020, a new Jason Sullivan project appeared on Twitter: an account named @realBillBinney, created (according to Sullivan, anyway) on behalf of former NSA official William Binney. This account rapidly accumulated tens of thousands of followers, due at least in part to promotion via a large network of retweet rooms. (For those unfamiliar with the concept, retweet rooms are Twitter direct message groups, operated with the expectation that everyone in the room will retweet any tweet shared in the room. Although retweet-for-retweet schemes of this sort are relatively common, they are considered a form of spam per Twitter’s platform manipulation policy.) The @realBillBinney account was suspended within a few days of being created, and Sullivan’s own @JasonSullivan_ account was suspended shortly after.
By June 2021, Sullivan was back on Twitter with a new account (@JasonLSullivan_) and a pair of new projects: a video site named magainfo.tv and a new incarnation of the Power10 automation software in the form of a Twitter app named “Michaelsolisunus” with an accompanying michaelsolisunus.com website. This app offered the automated retweet features of the original Power10 app, along with some rudimentary social media analytics features. It is unclear how much (if any) actual use this app received, as both it and Sullivan’s new account were banned before all of the app’s advertised functionality was operational. The magainfo.tv site eventually disappeared and the domain presently redirects to Sullivan’s personal website.
Regardless of how many projects by one specific consultant get shut down, we can expect that astroturfing efforts of this sort by political operatives (both foreign and domestic) will continue and evolve as we head into the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The removal of the free Twitter API complicates things, as it increases the cost and complexity of implementing a system like Power10. Unfortunately, it also increases the cost and complexity of investigating and monitoring politically motivated spam, making operations of this sort more difficult for researchers to detect and less likely to receive media coverage.
Pedantic footnote: since the events described in this article occurred prior to Twitter being rebranded to X, the words “Twitter” and “tweet” are used rather than “X” and “post”.
Brilliant work. Thank you.