Share this page!

Alastair Thompson Profile picture
Twitter logo
Aug 14 • 3 tweets • 2 min read
This tweet is from Dec 16th. TPLF have lost the war, and are now pivoting to the siege/blockade victimhood narrative which they used in the 1980s and appear to be counting on to save them again. And their secret weapon #TigrayGenocide is still there & look at the target @handles.
I had hoped we had gotten past these long dead and buried pieces of TPLF propaganda but it’s clear the weight of this false narrative bears down on Ethiopia, a narrative frame which I think @CyberAlexi @timnitGebru and @TsedaleLemma continue to hold.
/ends @threadreaderapp unroll

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Alastair Thompson

Alastair Thompson Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @althecat

Alastair Thompson Profile picture
Aug 16
Ethiopia & the Great Powers Imbroglio - a thread

Last week I posted this deep-dive research thread into the state of super-power relations following Pelosi's visit to Taiwan + an analysis of what it means.

This thread addresses implications for Ethiopia.
1. Whilst not involved directly in the superpower drama that is playing out on the larger stage, Ethiopia is embroiled in it due to the treatment of Ethiopia being such a hot-potato in the UN and UNSC.
2. In particular in the UNSC Ethiopia has consistently enjoyed the support of Russia, China, India, several nations in the near east, notably Algeria, Turkey and the UAE and the Africa Group.
Read 15 tweets
Alastair Thompson Profile picture
Aug 16
This is very unfortunate. The errors in procedure by the Electoral Commission Chair do appear to be clear.

It is probably appropriate now for the courts to consider the issue. And perhaps issue a stay on the transition pending the outcome.

via @YouTube
@YouTube What is most important at this point, is to let the rule of law follow its course and for there to be no violence.
However the margin of the victory in the account also appears to be fairly clear. And the margin is probably too large to be overturned unless it appears that there was very large scale irregularities - and this does not at present appear to be the case. Image
Read 7 tweets
Alastair Thompson Profile picture
Aug 15
P.S. @claireLwilmot There is another piece in the Washington Post Feb/5/21 which I couldn't find before which what I was really referring to in terms of their being a prior publication regarding this. I hadn't seen the November 17th one, found it today. washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/…
“Overall volume of tweets gathered using Twitter’s fire hose API (between 80 and 100 percent of all tweets), via Meltwater software. Content data collected and analyzed using Python and Twitter’s search and streaming APIs.” Image
“.. illustrates the amplification of a StandWithTigray ready-made tweet that targets the Norwegian foreign affairs ministry, Red Cross, ICC and the U.N. The black cluster to the left shows more 150+ new activist accounts copying and posting the tweet.” Image
Read 4 tweets
Alastair Thompson Profile picture
Aug 15
Hi Claire, I have now re-read your report in full, incl. Footnotes and Appendices and a lot of the links.

And I thank you for your willingness to engage on this.

I will do so in the manner that you have opened this discussion. Focusing on facts.
In terms of "extending and updating" your first investigation of this took place as the war broke out and resulted in this story in the Washington Post.on
November 17th - washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/…
And the conclusion in this initial story based on "my analysis of nearly 90,000 recent tweets, along with interviews with Ethiopia’s diaspora." Is the same as that in the final report. Namely that the SM information activity which accompanied the start of the war was "authentic." ImageImageImage
Read 45 tweets
Alastair Thompson Profile picture
Aug 14
Not covered in the thread but also important. The Axum Massacre is probably the most reported alleged crime in the war. And the Amnesty report had enormous impact/is very controversial as it like much of the “evidence” of crimes is based on telephone and refugee IVs.
Zooming in on the scale we get some more information. Wind of the report release clearly came out before its release and Pro-Ethiopia activists tried to pre-empt it. But on the day of the release TPLF’s campaign provided a Twitter tsunami of amplification. 14000 tweets in 1 day.
I won’t address the critiques of the Amnesty report @jeffpropulsion wrote a particularly powerful critique - but more simply based just on the opening of the report itself it’s clear they never went to Axum.
Read 7 tweets
Alastair Thompson Profile picture
Aug 14
Never forget this data…. From @CyberAlexi

Would love to hear a logical explanation from @timnitGebru of this doesn’t prove that there was a pre-planned cyber-disinfo campaign ready to go - for the TPLF’s pre-emotive treacherous strike against the ENDF.
Wouldn’t mind hearing @TsedaleLemma on this question too since she’s a media boss and best buddies with @timnitGebru.
For the full paper see here, it was updated and extended. But what really matters are the events at the beginning. mediamanipulation.org/case-studies/d…
Read 9 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(