Digital Deception: Survey Bots and the Ethics of Data Integrity

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence and automated systems has significantly impacted digital survey-based research, particularly when recruitment is conducted via social media platforms. This case study details the erosion of data integrity in a 2025 follow-up survey, originally designed to replicate a successful 2021 study. Despite implementing increasingly sophisticated antifraud mechanisms such as CAPTCHA, IP geo-restrictions, and behavioral validation, survey bots repeatedly infiltrated the study, rendering the dataset unusable. This highlights a critical tension between broad digital accessibility and the vulnerability of online research to fraud. Moreover, the use of financial incentives to participate in research, while effective in increasing response rates, was found to amplify bot activity and raise ethical dilemmas surrounding compensation and data quality. As automated deception continues to evolve, researchers must navigate a complex landscape where conventional protections are no longer sufficient. The authors call for the urgent development of fieldwide standards, institutional support, and robust fraud prevention strategies to preserve the methodological and ethical integrity of digital research. Without such measures, the viability of online recruitment and the trustworthiness of the resulting data remain at serious risk.