Thread by @PDWilliamsGWU

1/ It’s 13hrs since #AMISOM posted a Tweet about the mortar attack on the MIA compound in #Somalia🇸🇴. Here it is:

https://twitter.com/amisomsomalia/status/1080122489827672064?s=21

2/ One hour later @UNSomalia issued a press release that directly contradicted what #AMISOM Tweeted about the attack. Here’s that Tweet:

https://twitter.com/unsomalia/status/1080132940506587137?s=21

3/ For information-environment context, photos of the damage caused by the mortar attack was already circulating on Twitter when @amisomsomalia posted its Tweet. Here’s an example:

https://twitter.com/sahracabdi/status/1080122382902349824?s=21

4/ So the potential explanations for #AMISOM’s Tweet about the attack are: ignorance about the details of the attack (not good!), a hasty mistaken response (not good!), or a deliberate lie (really not good!).

5/ This episode provides a window into the poor state of #AMISOM’s strategic communications on @Twitter. At the very least, if you make a mistake quickly correct it when new information emerges. Do not go silent for 13hrs +

6/ If you’re interested in the history of #AMISOM’s strategic communications, I analyze part of its information war vs #AlShabaab in this article for @StabilityJrnl stabilityjournal.org/articles/10.53…

7/ At this dangerous time for #Somalia🇸🇴, everything will be more difficult for #AMISOM if it is not seen as an authoritative & credible source of information. Examples like this undermine the credibility of the mission’s other public messages. END

8/ Update: 22hrs later #AMISOM issues a new press release about the attack. Now it implicitly justifies its previous Tweet by saying the mortar shells all missed their “AMISOM intended target”.

https://twitter.com/amisomsomalia/status/1080462323947634688?s=21