Throughout 2026, a wave of consumer boycotts has targeted Walmart, Starbucks, Home Depot, Amazon, and McDonald’s over their diversity, labor, and political positions. Inauthentic accounts appeared across every brand rather than concentrating on one target, with the highest share, over 20 percent, on X and Instagram.
Cyabra’s analysis of the retail boycott conversation found that 12.6 percent of the profiles engaging across Facebook, X, and Instagram were inauthentic. Among profiles taking a clear stance, negativity ran high on both sides, with authentic voices actually more negative than inauthentic ones, indicating the boycott anger itself is organically driven. The fake layer showed clear coordination signals: accounts recurring across brands, clustering beneath high-reach posts, and stuffing generic hashtags to inflate reach.
Cyabra’s final assessment of inauthentic activity across five 2026 US midterm races on X, Facebook and Instagram, with findings and a look ahead to 2028.
Cyabra’s analysis of six competitive 2026 midterm races found coordinated inauthentic activity in every race, concentrated in candidates’ replies sections.
Sony's decision to phase out physical PlayStation discs activated a pre-organized movement, attracted coordinated inauthentic amplification, and generated over 100 million views before the brand had responded.
