Thread by @misterzedpk

#OSINT #propaganda #deception

THREAD: An account named “Kane Dectru” presents itself as an Argentine-Russian ‘analyst’; has been observed sharing political rhetoric favouring Imran Khan/ PTI.

Dissection of the account and its online behaviour can be read in this thread.

Sample tweets propagated by the account:-
1: archive.vn/jDhg1
2: archive.vn/e9T9T
3: archive.vn/qDbhw
4: archive.vn/A3Nos

This account was created on 4 May 2011 and has only tweeted 135 times (till the time of compiling this thread). Was completely dormant from 2012-2020.

The account has been observed spreading pro-PTI hashtags since 2021. Samples below:-

1. archive.vn/LR5rb
2. archive.vn/991Lu

The more interesting finding is the profile photo of this account. Appears to show a white male with a slightly-visible flag of Canada in the background:-

An extended reverse-image search revealed this is actually a distorted photo of David Usher, Canada’s Acting Consul General in Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin and NW Indiana (US).

Link to his original govt-issued photo: media.bizj.us/view/img/12223…

Some original impressions from the original image have been marked by me below for comparison:-

Left: Edited/ fake
Right: Original

I strongly believe that a face editing app was used (available in various types) to add 'hair' and a 'smile', hence the image distortions.

Available open source evidence confirms that the account is a manufactured persona that is used to propagate pro-PTI narratives.

The account has also spoofed its geolocation on multiple locations: Fake entries from US (Houston, New York) and Argentina. This is a more nuanced technique used by propagandists to add 'credibility' to their sock-puppet.

Various Twitter analytics tools (including Twitonomy) reveal most of those engaging with this sock-puppet's content (RTs and favourites) are social media activists sympathetic to the PTI.