G5iO #AfghanLeaks| Disinformation & Propaganda Campaign to Sabotage Afghan Peace Process

As a flagship study, G5iO undertook data analytics to deconstruct coordinated disinformation & Info-Ops being undertaken by both India & Afghanistan to derail Afghan Peace Process [Thread]

Evidence indicates extensive use of bots, coordinated network behaviour and fake news pushed across @Twitter from sources linked to Afghanistan and Indian state machinery.
The frequency and intensity of these campaigns increased dramatically over the last 3 months once:

•US announced a final withdrawal date
•The Taliban gained military victories
Methodology:
•Twitter data was scraped from May 2020 – Aug 2021
•The data indicated key narratives, networks and user accounts running disinformation operations
•Insights were developed using comparative analysis of online hashtag activity with offline political and regional security events

•Artificial activity was defined as any activity from accounts engaged in platform manipulation, recently created and pushing inorganic content
Key narratives:
Key narratives indicate coordinated disinformation campaign led by India & Afghanistan targeting Pakistan Army, fanning ethnic nationalism, spreading fake news over FATF, & blaming Pakistan for the current crisis in Afghanistan
Timeline:
The data visualized through a timeline maps how the targeted campaign against Pakistan has been carefully choreographed & timed to sabotage & discredit Pakistan's efforts for peace in Afghanistan.

It also shows attempts to destabilize Pakistan through fake news
Details of Coordinated Network Activity:

The following highlights how most of these campaigns comprised:
• Of known state-linked accounts
• Of a considerable level of artificial activity
Sample of Content propagated:

The following hashtags & tweets present just a glimpse of the kind of content & narratives being pushed by both Indian & Afghan sponsored content mills.
Case Study: The hashtag SanctionPakistan presents a good example.
•Used since 2016 by Indian backed propaganda accounts.

•Since June 2021, used as part of a coordinated propaganda campaign by the Afghan government

•Used more aggressively by India & Afg since US withdrawal
The same hashtag was artificially pushed on 9th-10th August by mostly Indian & Afghan sponsored accounts to around 300k tweets out of which 60% was artificial activity.
Conclusion: Social Media is not just social media anymore, it has real-world consequences on societies & individuals, many that do not even have internet.

Ethical use of Social Media is pivotal for peace & prosperity globally. Fighting Disinformation, therefore, is critical.
The study can be downloaded from our webpage:

https://t.co/DNqoqaa6hV

You May Also Like

I'm going to do two history threads on Ethiopia, one on its ancient history, one on its modern story (1800 to today). 🇪🇹

I'll begin with the ancient history ... and it goes way back. Because modern humans - and before that, the ancestors of humans - almost certainly originated in Ethiopia. 🇪🇹 (sub-thread):


The first likely historical reference to Ethiopia is ancient Egyptian records of trade expeditions to the "Land of Punt" in search of gold, ebony, ivory, incense, and wild animals, starting in c 2500 BC 🇪🇹


Ethiopians themselves believe that the Queen of Sheba, who visited Israel's King Solomon in the Bible (c 950 BC), came from Ethiopia (not Yemen, as others believe). Here she is meeting Solomon in a stain-glassed window in Addis Ababa's Holy Trinity Church. 🇪🇹


References to the Queen of Sheba are everywhere in Ethiopia. The national airline's frequent flier miles are even called "ShebaMiles". 🇪🇹