X sues its own users for running a fake bitcoin news bot farm
X has filed a lawsuit against individuals accused of operating a bot farm that spread fake bitcoin news to manipulate engagement. The platform is seeking to recover creator-fund payouts linked to the fraudulent network.
Why it matters
This legal action highlights the ongoing struggle of social media platforms to combat coordinated inauthentic behavior and financial fraud within their creator ecosystems.
The lawsuit names Vivek Kumar Sen and Zmyang Sherpa as the alleged masterminds behind the scheme, with law firm Lewis Silkin LLP representing the platform. At stake is at least 207,000 pounds ($277,000) in disputed creator-fund payouts. Costs for further damages from investigations and remediation are still unquantified.
The lawsuit named nine accounts as part of the alleged network: @Vivek4real_, @Bitcoin_Teddy, @saylordocs, @TrendingBitcoin, @Kalshibacktest, @PolyBackTest, @BTC_Vibes, @MrSuperBitcoin and @Laserlump. These accounts circulated fake “breaking” news headlines that often matched word for word and appeared on X just seconds apart.
Most of these posts made unsubstantiated, unverified claims involving big players in finance to draw mass attention, such as claiming Goldman Sachs' CEO was pushing a crypto bill or saying Citibank had bought $12.6 million in bitcoin.
The lawsuit further alleges that defendants operated accounts that repeatedly liked, replied to, and reposted these posts to create a facade of false engagement.
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