The news that bots share on Twitter tends not to focus on politics

Since the 2016 US presidential election, much attention has been focused on the role of bots in promoting political news on Twitter. But bots can play a role in spreading many other types of news and information as well. This study finds that suspected bots are far more active in sharing links to news sites focusing on nonpolitical content than to sites with a political focus. Some findings:

1. Suspected bots share a smaller proportion of links to popular news sites compared with other kinds of websites.
2. Suspected bots are no more likely to link to digital-native news sites than to legacy news organizations. 
3. When suspected bot accounts link to news on Twitter, posts are more likely to focus on nonpolitical than political content.
4. Suspected bots are more likely to link to political news sites that have an ideologically mixed or centrist audience than to sites that have a very liberal or very conservative audience.