A Storm of Tweets: Social Media Manipulation During the Gulf Crisis

Leber, Andrew; Abrahams, Alexei

doi:10.1017/rms.2019.45

Cited by 21 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…What this might suggest is people in Arab countries in this study who frequently come across fake news online want someone-literally anyone-to stop the flow of fake news online. The movement of fake news between and about several of the countries in this study-especially three countries involved in the region's blockade: Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE-is pervasive and systemic (Leber and Abrahams 2019), and internet users in many of the countries under study may see fake news everywhere, regardless of whether they find mainstream news media credible or not.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…At other times, "fake news" does refer to false words or visual deception, two fake news types identified by Tandoc et al Both private actors and governments can create and disseminate fake news, due to any combination of political or financial motivations. In the Arab Gulf, fake news often involves fabricated content created by, or at the behest of, a government, to deceive people or sow discord toward an opponent, and fake news was used as a pretense for the Saudi Arabia-led blockade of Qatar (Leber and Abrahams 2019;Ulrichsen 2020). This type of fake news still falls under the Tandoc et al definition used in the current study, but this is just to say that fake news battles may play out more publicly in the Arab Gulf than in some other locales.…”

Section: Forms Of Fake Newsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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News Media Credibility Ratings and Perceptions of Online Fake News Exposure in Five Countries

Martin

Hassan

2020

Journalism Studies

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This study examined media credibility ratings as predictors of perceptions of online fake political news exposure (FNE) among internet users in five Arab countries: Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and UAE (N = 4,616). Regression models of media credibility and media use variables explained sizeable amounts of variance in FNE in three countries (14% to 26%). The hypothesis that respondents' credibility ratings of news media would negatively predict FNE, however, was only partially supported-a relationship observed in two of the five countries. The strongest positive correlate of FNE was the belief that fake news online should be blocked. Implications for research on public perceptions of fake news and for research on media credibility are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Forms Of Fake Newsmentioning

confidence: 99%

News Media Credibility Ratings and Perceptions of Online Fake News Exposure in Five Countries

Martin

Hassan

2020

Journalism Studies

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“…The use of bot accounts in political propaganda often occurs in various contestations of public leaders in the world (Caldarelli et al, 2019). These bot accounts also injure public participation in the online platform because they do not present a real account that can communicate interactively and it can lead to information manipulation (Boberg et al, 2019;Leber & Abrahams, 2019).…”

Section: Actors Behind the Negative Issues Of Presidential Candidatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The 2019 Indonesian Presidential Election: Propaganda in Post-Truth Era

Aminulloh¹,

Artaria²,

Surya³

et al. 2021

NJOC

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Presidential elections often are colored by propaganda and post-truth politics in its campaign to influence public opinion. This study aimed to identify the way and forms of propaganda and post-truth communicate political messages from the 2019 presidential election in Indonesia through political communication on social media. This research employed a mixed-methods approach that combines quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative data were obtained from Twitter with social network analysis (SNA) from December 2018 to March 2019. Meanwhile, the qualitative data were obtained from literature searches and expert interviews. The results of this analysis indicated that presidential candidate Jokowi was widely rumored to be a liar, claimant of success, weak leader, communist, pro-China, and anti-Islam. There were also many rumors that referred to presidential candidate Prabowo as a pro caliphate, human rights violator, person with a questionable religion, bad-tempered person, inexperienced leader, and hoax spreader. These negative issues constitute propaganda in the form of stories, rumors, and myths that were manipulated to influence public opinion on social media. Some parts of society believed them based on emotional belief instead of on rationally observed facts. We conclude that even when it involves many people in a big nation, propaganda can be manipulated to influence public opinion.Keywords: Propaganda, post-truth, social media, political communication, presidential election ABSTRAKPemilihan presiden sering kali diwarnai oleh propaganda dan politik pasca-kebenaran dalam kampanyenya untuk memengaruhi opini publik. Kami mempelajari kasus pemilihan presiden di Indonesia tahun 2019. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi bagaimana bentuk-bentuk propaganda dan post-truth mengkomunikasikan pesan politik melalui komunikasi politik di media sosial. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan metode campuran, yaitu kombinasi metode kuantitatif dan kualitatif. Data kuantitatif diperoleh dari media sosial Twitter dengan analisis jejaring sosial (SNA) dari Desember 2018 hingga Maret 2019. Data kualitatif diperoleh dari penelusuran literatur dan wawancara ahli. Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa capres Jokowi banyak diisukan sebagai pembohong, klaim keberhasilan, pemimpin lemah, komunis, pro-China, dan anti-Islam. Banyak rumor yang menyebut calon presiden Prabowo sebagai pro khilafah, pelanggar HAM, orang yang agamanya dipertanyakan, pemarah, pemimpin yang tidak berpengalaman, dan penyebar hoax. Implikasi dari penelitian ini adalah bahwa isu-isu negatif tersebut merupakan propaganda berupa cerita, rumor, dan mitos yang dimanipulasi untuk memengaruhi opini publik di media sosial. Sebagian masyarakat percaya bahwa propaganda ini sebagai kebenaran karena didasarkan pada keyakinan emosional, bukan fakta yang diamati secara rasional. Kami menyimpulkan bahwa meskipun melibatkan banyak orang di negara besar, propaganda dapat dimanipulasi untuk memengaruhi opini publik.Kata Kunci: Propaganda, post-truth, media sosial, komunikasi politik, pemilihan presiden

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“…This author casts doubt on the use of Twitter "as a tool to generate valid discussions about public opinion, even though it is a very important tool for sharing news". In a similar way, (Leber & Abrahams, 2019), consider proven the manipulation of discourse on the internet and the mass production of messages using bots with the goal of earning supporters.…”

Section: Communication As a New Battlefield In This Diplomatic Crisismentioning

confidence: 99%

Qatar's communication strategy and the resolution of the diplomatic conflict in the Gulf

Santamaría

2021

Janus.net

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On the 5th of June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain announced the rupture of diplomatic relations and the closure of borders with Qatar in response to its alleged support for terrorist activities destabilising the region. In order to revert the situation, 13 demands were made, which Qatar refuses to meet. Qatar was isolated within the Gulf Cooperation Council and its international image was damaged, particularly after the Trump Administration backed the blockade. In these trying circumstances, Qatar has managed to resist by developing a public diplomacy that integrates the analogue and digital environments in which communications play a vital role. Qatar has protested its innocence before regional and international public opinion, and it has denounced the anti-Qatar campaign and fake news stories that flooded social media, particularly Twitter, before and during the first months of the crisis. It has developed a communication strategy showing its willingness to open dialogue, respect for international bodies where it defended its cause, together with diplomatic activities reinforcing its positions before very diverse actors such as the United States, international bodies, Kuwait and Turkey. Qatar used this strategy to transform its online influence into offline diplomatic influence until it succeeded in getting Kuwait to act as mediator, with the support of the United States, in order to put an end to the blockade, which was the top goal of its foreign policy.

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A Storm of Tweets: Social Media Manipulation During the Gulf Crisis

Cited by 21 publications

References 16 publications

News Media Credibility Ratings and Perceptions of Online Fake News Exposure in Five Countries

News Media Credibility Ratings and Perceptions of Online Fake News Exposure in Five Countries

The 2019 Indonesian Presidential Election: Propaganda in Post-Truth Era

Qatar's communication strategy and the resolution of the diplomatic conflict in the Gulf

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