[Thread] 2019 for me has been a year of threads. Threads on disinformation, coordinated influence campaigns, & general suspicious Twitter activity. From Canada & Iran, to Brexit & the Gulf, I will post my top ten grossing Twitter threads for those interested in our impending doom
1/ First up, August 2019. I analysed Boris Johnson's tweets ahead of the October 31st Brexit deadline and discovered that his content promoting a hard Brexit was being promoted heavily by suspicious US-right wing accounts - the online MAGA movement
2/ Moving onto the Canadian Elections. Again, I did several threads on the topic. Here is a thread from October 14th documenting the high volume of far-right and right-wing pro-Trump accounts promoting anti-Justin Trudeau Hashtags
3/ Up third is a thread once described by various commentators as an 'epic....wild ride' . It's about my friendship with the British, pro-Saudi MAGA troll, Angus Gallagher. For those interested in the recent SurferMom77 affair, this is crucial reading
4/ Here is a thread on the hashtag MIGA (Make Iran Great Again), where lots of US right wing and pro-Trump accounts (in addition to pro-Pahlavi accounts) were promoting regime change in Iran. Also, who RT's @SecPompeo Farsi Tweets?
@SecPompeo 5/ Up next a firm festive favourite. Retweeted by @HackedOffHugh (the ghost of Xmas Present), this thread highlights a disinformation campaign seeking to discredit the story of a boy forced to lie on a crowded A & E floor... Right before the UK election!
@SecPompeo @HackedOffHugh 6/ Another festive fave, the @MattHancock affair. Here a fake news story spread about how Hancock's assistant was struck by a labour activist outside a hospital. I tracked how the story spread, and who spread it. Spoiler, lots of well-known journalists...
@SecPompeo @HackedOffHugh @MattHancock 7/ Moving on to the Algerian elections. Here is a thread on how suspected Twitter bots and sock puppet accounts were seeking to undermine Algeria's Hirak movement by encouraging people to get involved in what was perceived to be a rigged election!
@SecPompeo @HackedOffHugh @MattHancock 8/ In September 2019, Twitter dumped around 4,500 'political spam' accounts linked to the UAE and Saudi. Here I document some salient aspects of those accounts. . The thread formed the basis of a piece I wrote for @monkeycageblog washingtonpost.com/gdpr-consent/?…
@SecPompeo @HackedOffHugh @MattHancock @monkeycageblog 9/ September 2019 was a bumper month. This thread I did with the help of @abulkhaezuran documents some interesting stats about all those accounts with "Make America Great Again" in the bios. Lots of juicy tidbits, for those who like their tidbits juicy.
@SecPompeo @HackedOffHugh @MattHancock @monkeycageblog @abulkhaezuran 10/ Finally, a bit of a wild card, but remember Tulsi Gabbard? With all the discussions of her being a Russian 'asset' (eeww) - I analysed those promoting her because she bashed Hilary Clinton. Again, lots of suspicious right-wing pro-Trump accounts!
@SecPompeo @HackedOffHugh @MattHancock @monkeycageblog @abulkhaezuran So there you have it, a meta-thread of threads! (I realised after doing this that I have done a lot of threads and missed off many I liked) Thanks for everyone who read them or interacted me with in 2019. I've made a lot of new friends, & a fair few enemies! Have a lovely NYE :)
