Thread 1/ For Sudan and Gulf watchers. Below is a brief analysis of a 'Sudanese' sockpuppet network that includes at least 26 accounts. It seems to exist mostly to promote the UAE's role in #Sudan, and occasionally have swipes at the Muslim Brotherhood. #disinformation
2/ The accounts are old Twitter accounts have been bought or hacked. Many are as old as 2009, but only have around 50 tweets or so. They were repurposed in around December 2021, a few weeks prior to the resignation of Sudanese PM Abdalla Handok
3/ Some still have their old names, such as Will Reed 73 (aka Halla Mashael) or Sexy Thickums (aka Manasik Omer).Again, most are pictures of attractive women with good quality banner photos depicting Sudan. This 'influencer' aesthetic is likely to drive engagement #disinformation
4/ The accounts occasionally criticise the Muslim Brotherhood, with the now familiar tropes saying they are the source of terror in the region.
5/ However, their most commonly used words are 'Sudan' and 'the Emirates' (as in the UAE). ِAnd you can see why below, the accounts spend a lot of time re-affirming the good relationship between the UAE, and more importantly, UAE's assistance to Sudan #disinformation#propaganda
6/ Each account has probably tweeted around 50 times since they were repurposed in December. The network was perhaps at least double in size (at least 50). Another tweep @elsadig_atif spotted some of the fake in December and presumably reported them.
7/ The network looks similar to others I have tweeted about in the past few days. Similar modus operandi (attractive profile pics, all use web app, hacked accounts), UAE/Egypt/Saudi leaning stance. Anyway, that's it for now, hope you enjoyed! #Sudan#disinformation
8/ Addendum - the accounts involved >
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🧵[Thread] 1/ I have detected a Somalia-focused sockpuppet network spreading pro-UAE, anti-Qatar and anti-Turkish propaganda on Twitter and Reddit. However, their main efforts are criticizing Somalia President Farmajo, and supporting Prime Minister Roble 👉 #disinformation
2/ The network consists of around 30-40 sockpuppet accounts. Like other networks I have documented recently, many of the images feature attractive young millenial/gen z types with fairly professional headshots. They all use Twitter Web App, and tweet in Somali, English or Arabic
3/ Below is a typical sample of a lot of the content from the network. Anti-Farmajo, pro-Roble, pro-UAE, anti-Turkey, and anti-Qatar. The accounts all post banal or trivial influencer-type content between their political posts, for that instagrammable spice 🌶️ #disinformation
[Thread] 1/ What follows is an examination and identification of a MENA sockpuppet network I've been following for some time. Unlike crude bot networks for hire, this one has a clear anti-Erdogan, anti-Muslim Brotherhood and pro-authoritarian agenda. #disinformation
2/ The first notable thing about this network is that it's almost exclusively run by accounts with photos of attractive young Arab women. Very catfish-esque. It was probably bigger at one point, but in October 2020 there were around 64 of these accounts. The photos are
3/ presumably to drive engagement. But there is also the danger that the images were designed to facilitate phishing through honey traps. The accounts largely follow the same modus operandi. They have a scenic image of an Arab country as their banner image. They post touristic
"The new analysis provides the first indication that a UAE government agency placed the military-grade spyware on a phone used by someone in Khashoggi’s inner circle in the months before his murder." washingtonpost.com/nation/interac…
"Following The Post’s report in July, NSO Group chief executive Shalev Hulio said a thorough check of the firm’s client records showed none had used Pegasus to attack the phones of Khashoggi or Elatr before a Saudi hit team murdered him in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018."
1/ Thread. This is a rant about the Qatar has no 'football culture' argument. It keeps rearing its head but it is a fundamentally prejudiced and orientalist line of reasoning, and an arrogant fiction. Read on for some thoughts > #FIFArabCup#Qatar2022
2/ Firstly, no one needs to prove that there IS a 'football culture' in Qatar. People in the Middle East have enjoyed and played football for decades. People in Qatar play football, people here enjoy football, they have done for years, end of story. #Qatar2022
3/ There are club, leagues, school teams, fans, merchandise, regulatory bodies etc That’s just a fact
[Thread] 1/ This is an update on the #DoNotComply and #DoNotComplyEver hashtag. Both began trending again when mandatory mask wearing was introduced after the discovery of the Omicron variant. Since my last thread, I analysed approx 26000 tweets, between 5th -10th December
2/ In the following thread I will discuss
a) who the main influencers are
b) the salient political communities promoting the hashtag
c) any potentially unusual elements to the hashtag
3/ Firstly, influencers. As with my previous thread, the British actor @LozzaFox remains the most influential account spreading the 'Do Not Comply message'. His posturing tweet of December 8th was retweeted almost 2k times, and liked around 8k times. #omicron#FridayFeeling
Some Pew statistics on acceptance of homosexuality across the world (left is 2019 right is 2019). In the Middle East highest numbers of acceptance are in Israel, Turkey & Lebanon ( although generally very low). Turkey is higher than Russia & Ukraine though pewresearch.org/global/2020/06…
right is 2013*
Some general correlates. Younger, more educated people tend to be more accepting of homosexuality, as do those in wealthier and more developed countries. Those who identify as religious and right wing less likely to be accepting pewresearch.org/global/2020/06…