DJ Snake has been connected to a massive fake Twitter follower probe. At the center of the investigation is an obscure American company called Devumi, founded by German Calas.
According to an exposé by the New York Times, the company has accumulated a stock of roughly 3.5 million automated accounts and sold customers more than 200 million Twitter followers. 55,000 of the automated accounts “use the names, profile pictures, hometowns and other personal details of real Twitter users, including minors, according to a Times data analysis”.
Tracing the history of a fake Jessica Rychly, the Times was able to identify DJ Snake as one such customer of Devumi. Additionally, 3LAU has also been identified as another musician utilizing Devumi’s fraudulent social media services. It is expected Devumi has over 200,000 customers spanning politics, entertainment and professional sports.
The Times report that former members of management were behind the purchase of followers for both DJ Snake and 3LAU.
Devumi Founder Calas denies the accusations against his company: “The allegations are false, and we do not have knowledge of any such activity.”
The revelation points toward a much larger fraudulent Twitterverse. By some accounts, nearly 15% (48 million) of Twitter’s reported active users are automated accounts established to simulate real users.
The problem of fake followers across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and even SoundCloud has become so pervasive the United States Congress and Senate Intelligence Committee have begun investigation the spread of fraudulent accounts.
Twitter itself remains less responsive. Kristin Binns, a spokeswoman for Twitter, tells the Times, the company typically does not suspend users suspected of buying bots due to the difficulty of tracing that purchase. In other words, the purchase could be an attempt to discredit individuals (ex: DJ Snake and 3LAU) versus simply boosting social media numbers.
The in-depth report can be viewed in full here.
