SAMbot Vancouver Election

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June 19, 2023

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SAMbot Vancouver Election

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This material is part of the Online Abuse in Local Elections: The SAMbot Municipal Report.

Vancouver city card with image of friendly robot SAMbot, a map of the city, and the following SAMbot findings: Total Tweets 77,911 ; Accounts Tracked 99 ; Abusive Tweets 9,873 ; Percentage Abusive 13% ; Insults 5,917 ; Toxic 3,081 ; Threats 3,686 ; Sexually Explicit 1,087 ; Identity Attacks 1,950

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Tracked Accounts: 99 (6 Mayor, 44 Councillor, 20 Park Board Commissioner, 19 School Trustee, 10 Political Party) ; Tracking Period: 35 days: September 10, 2022 at 12:00 a.m. PT to October 15, 2022 at 11:59 PT

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Vancouver Mayoral Candidates Received the Most Abuse

Incumbent mayoral candidate Kennedy Stewart received over 20% of all abusive tweets (2,031). Stewart placed second in the mayoral race.

Colleen Hardwick placed third in the mayoral election and received the second highest volume of abusive tweets (599).

Ken Sim was elected mayor of Vancouver and received the third highest volume of abusive tweets (562).

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Top 10 Vancouver Candidates: Highest Volume of Tweets

Candidates are ranked based on the volume of total tweets they received.

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Forward Together Vancouver Candidates Received Most Abusive Tweets

Vancouver is one of the few municipalities in Canada where most candidates are part of local political parties.

Forward Together Vancouver candidates faced the highest volume of abusive tweets (2,419), 84% of which were directed at Kennedy Stewart. Zero Forward Together Vancouver candidates were elected in 2022.

TEAM candidates received the highest volume of tweets (22,104) and the second highest volume of abusive tweets (2,050). Zero TEAM candidates were elected in 2022.

ABC Vancouver candidates received the third highest volume of abusive tweets (1,566). Nineteen ABC Vancouver candidates were elected in 2022, achieving a majority on city council, the park board, and the school board as well as the mayor’s chair.

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Vancouver Political Party Tweet Breakdown

Data includes total tweets received by candidates and official party accounts.

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This material is part of the Online Abuse in Local Elections: The SAMbot Municipal Report.

How to cite: The Samara Centre for Democracy, Online Abuse in Local Elections: The SAMbot Municipal Report, (Toronto: The Samara Centre for Democracy, 2023), http://www.samaracentre.ca/project/online-abuse-in-local-elections-sambot-municipal-report.

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SAMbot tracked online abuse during Toronto's municipal election. Read our report to learn more about our findings.

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Throughout the fall of 2022, the Samara Centre for Democracy deployed SAMbot in eight municipal elections across Canada to measure abusive content received by candidates and political parties on Twitter.

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