Thread by @SaeedRizvan

Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour detected on Pakistani Twitter.
Last week, 3 hashtags trended on top panel in Pak.
#1 #PakistanStandsWithShahab
#2 #IstandwithHamidMir
#3 #IstandWithAsmaShirazi
First one was propagated inorganically.

23,000 tweets were sent with #1 by 7,500 users. 11,500 tweets with #2 by 6500 users & 20,000 tweets with #3 by 10,500 users.
The network analysis reveals that tweeps engaged in propagating #1 were involved in Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour (CIB). Dense connections

along with higher %age of retweets among tweeps in #1 reflect deep online connections they had and their organised effort to propagate the # inorganically.
In case of #2 & #3 there were few individuals who sent tweets beyond normal limits but the SNA didn't reflect any organised

groups. This could be viewed in the graphs (#2 & #3) where sparsity of inter-connectedness indicates towards lack of organised campaigning. Interestingly @ShahabSpeaks himself sent more than 50 tweets to give boost to the #1.

Some interesting findings: Plz see table 👇🏽, it shows 1) users who sent hundreds of tweets but check that no one retweeted them. They had literally 0 indegree
2) No one had original dp.
3) All belonged to same online group.
It suggests that either one individual used all

of these accounts to tweet with #PakistanStandsWithShahab or main tweeps had shadow accounts.
#1 was amplified through inorganic means but later on a good number of users joined in (5000+) who supported the #1. Given the Twitter following of all three

(Shahab, @asmashirazi @HamidMirPAK ) the big guns did not get the support proportionate to their digital self. Although there were more verified accounts who tweeted with #2 & #3 but total number of users who sent 1-5 tweets with the # was almost equal for Shahab & Hamid.

CIB is illegal as per Twitter policies. Many users claim that their accounts were suspended because of tweeting on certain issues. No doubt, there are cases of such discrimination but many times accounts are suspended as they engage in CIB and propaganda/abusive hashtags.
#SNA

@ShahabSpeaks @asmashirazi @HamidMirPAK
#CoordinatedInauthenticBehavior
#CIB
#Propaganda
#TwitterWars
#SocialNetworkAnalysis