Thread by @DFRLab

Part two of @DFRLab's coverage on social media manipulation and violence in Sudan. A network of Twitter accounts is promoting #RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, aka Hemedti, by posting copied content and duplicate replies on Hemedti related content. 🧵👇 dfrlab.org/2023/04/19/sus…

The network’s content appears to fall into three categories:

• Tweets copied directly from the official Twitter accounts of the RSF or Hemedti
• Seemingly original content posts promoting Hemedti and the RSF
• Replies to tweets posted by the RSF and Hemedti.

Before the conflict between the RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) began, the accounts portrayed Hemedti as a reformist general and potential leader. After fighting started, as a hero. Often the accounts posted identical content, including replies, within seconds of one another.

.@DFRLab previously reported on suspicious tactics promoting the RSF. In October 2021, Meta deplatformed a network promoting the RSF and Hemedti for coordinated inauthentic behavior.

The network included page admins based in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. dfrlab.org/2021/10/28/sud…

Many accounts copied content directly from the Hemedti and RSF's Facebook and Twitter accounts, sharing it as if it were original.

In multiple instances, several accounts would crop an original video and repost identical video content within minutes of each other

Due to the copy-paste nature of the network, where large groups of accounts shared the same content within minutes of one another, the accounts often had identical timelines. For example, the nine highest engagers often had almost identical timelines across days and even weeks.

On Tuesday, @DFRLab published an investigation into a network of 900+ potentially hijacked Twitter accounts that promoted content in a coordinated manner that was supportive of Hemedti and the RSF, making them appear more popular than they actually are. dfrlab.org/2023/04/18/pot…

.@awildknight contributed to this report. See the full investigation ✖️🧵 dfrlab.org/2023/04/19/sus…