Securities watchdog suspends trading for 15 stocks after ‘suspicious social media activity’

Cyber security company PiiQ on Friday claimed that social media bots have been hyping up GameStop and other “meme stocks” which have become extremely volatile in recent weeks.

There had been speculation that the buzz around GameStop, AMC and Blockbuster may have been the work of a foreign interference campaign. However Reddit chief executive Steve Huffman told American politicians this month that he did not believe bots or fake accounts played “a significant role” in pumping up the stock’s price and following an investigation, did not conclude that foreign meddling was a factor.

However PiiQ said it found bots on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube which were posting with keywords including “Hold The Line”, “GME” and “GameStop”.