The message appeared during a particularly fraught geopolitical moment in the Persian Gulf.

One Twitter hashtag was mentioned 95,000 times in three days, after receiving zero attention in the prior month.

Many of the tweets spouting anti-Qatar and anti-Iranian messaging, often in Arabic.

An attack focused on people following the Epilepsy Foundation's Twitter account shows that even normal use of a social media platform can be used for harm.

But there aren't a lot of answers on how to do that, Grant Schneider says.

Accused terrorists long have exploited algorithms to capitalize on users’ attention.