Nicki Minaj’s fan base—commonly referred to as the Barbz—has become infamous for leading attacks on the rapper’s detractors. Now, it’s being revealed that her social media following has been plagued by thousands of fake accounts, according to a new study. Cyabra, the firm behind the study, is an Israeli disinformation security company that detects fake social media accounts, per its website. The study, titled “Coordinated Inauthentic Amplification of Political Discourse on Nicki Minaj’s X Account,” gave an overview of the rapper’s X account and who has been amplifying her posts.
Over the past few months, Minaj has become an unofficial mascot for Trump’s MAGA movement, using her platform to amplify right-wing talking points such as Voter ID regulations, hesitancy around the COVID-19 vaccine, and more. These particular posts have seen significant amplification over the past few months. However, according to the study, a “materially elevated level of inauthentic activity” is happening in the comment section of these posts.
Cyabra reports that nearly 33% (over 18,000) of the accounts engaging with the rapper’s posts were deemed to be fake. This is “substantially higher” than the supposed baseline levels typically seen on social media posts, the study read. One of the more shocking revelations from the study is that Minaj’s newfound far-right political view apparently has less to do with her support for MAGA, but more with “boosting the rapper’s reputation.”
“[The campaign was] focusing on reinforcing visible support for Nicki Minaj — particularly in posts that attracted criticism — in order to manufacture the appearance of broad public endorsement and a supportive fan base,” the report states. The comments, supposedly generated by fake profiles, were “predominantly brief, repetitive and low in semantic complexity.”
