Replication Data for: "Did the Musk takeover boost contentious actors on Twitter?"

After his acquisition of Twitter, Elon Musk pledged to overhaul verification and moderation policies. These events sparked fears of a rise in influence of contentious actors—notably from the political right. I investigate this question by gathering tweet data for accounts that purchased blue-tick verification before and after the Musk takeover. Following the takeover, we see a large increase in post engagement for all users. There is no obvious evidence that blue-tick verification confers an additional engagement boost. But tweet engagement for accounts active in far-right networks out-stripped any increased engagement for general user accounts. (2023-08-10)