🧵1) I downloaded all tweets since 6th February containing the word HAARP. It was way larger than I expected and I ended up without around 300k tweets across dozens of languages involving over 130k unique accounts! Read on for more #TurkeySyriaEarthquake #Disinformation
2) Firstly, why HAARP. Well, there's a conspiracy going around that HAARP - High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) (a former US program designed to investigate the ionosphere) is being used to weaponize weather, and even create earthquakes. Sound absurd right?
3) Nonetheless, tens of thousands have shared it on Twitter in dozens of languages, but mostly English, Turkish, Spanish, and French. Not everyone sharing it is agreeing with it, but the most shared tweets containing 'HAARP' support the conspiracy
4) The most retweeted accounts are not even well-known influencers. The English-speaking accounts include accounts that indicate they are right-wing US accounts, anti vaxxers, and at times anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists.
5/ Like one of the most shared tweets was from this guy - who combines anti-semitism with some sort of Satantic control of the music industry...His TL is quite something but he gets crazy engagement. Weird.
6) And if you thought HAARP was bad, some of the most shared accounts are also talking about 'project blue beam" - which apparently is a technology used to control the human race or something. Also, I like that these two have identical tweets.
7) In terms of the English-speaking accounts sharing the story, the eighth most common biographical term is 'MAGA' (Make America Great Again) - after freedom, life, patriot, god, anti, love, and Twitter. Again, pointing to a right-wing bent to this disinfo spreading
8) A lot of seems to be anti-NATO propaganda, a touch Russia adjacent... One of the tropes is that NATO used HAARP against Turkey to punish them for their position on Russia.
9) So far that's just some of the English activity. One of the most influential Turkish accounts is this guy, who seems to devote most of his time to tweeting conspiracy theories. But hey's he's got Twitter Blue so must be legit.
10) Curious though, the same account seems to have that same nexus of anti-freemasonry, anti-semitism, UNICEF abducting children (is this QAnon adjacent?). Anyway will go back to English now as maybe I'm missing context.
11) I'm fascinated by the disinfo grifters (disinfluencers) - This Stew Peters for example, is fully embracing HAARP creating that unusual (but natural) cloud in Turkey, and HAARP creating the earthquake too. FYI Peters was booted from Spotify for spreading Covid19 disinfo
12) An interesting thing about this HAARP conspiracy is that it started on the same day as the earthquake. There was no lag really. It's still going on now. Given the volume of tweets on it, it's likely to continue for some time and etch it's way into the disinfo lexicon.
13) (I' m aware HAARP is not a new conspiracy, but it's really got a shot in the arm). Anyway, I should go to bed but a few things are interesting.
1) The scale - there are a lot of people across different languages talking about this
2) It, perhaps unsurprisingly, coexists
14/ with other narratives such as anti-vaccination disinfo
3) It appears partisan, again have a conservative bent (although I imagine in Spanish we'd probably see a far left bent to it)
4) It has taken on an anti-NATO element, especially with regard to Turkey's role vis a vis
15/ ...Russia and Ukraine.
I am not saying this is a Russian influence operation - although as agitprop it works in their favour. It's also good for the Turkish government - potentially distracting some people from focusing on state responsibility in the disaster.
16/ So far though there does appear to be some element of inauthenticity to it - suggesting someone is boosting this narrative. The engagement and virality of lesser known accounts is particularly suspicious. Will keep an eye on it though. Night for now
17) An interesting aspect about the HAARP disinfo is that one of the most shared tweets mentioning the hashtag as early as 6th was not actually talking about HAARP, but telling people to avoid platitudes or construction theories to focus on help. So either using the hashtag
18) simply because it was trending as people tend to do, or for some other reason (i.e. get it trending but without being explicit). Again, shows that disinfo can be amplified without directly discussing it, either to promote it or debunk it. #Disinformation
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