LONDON: Twitter has removed a vast network of accounts that it says is linked to the Chinese government and were pushing false information favorable to the country’s communist rulers. Beijing denied involvement Friday and said the company should instead take down accounts smearing China.
The US social media company suspended 23,750 accounts that were posting pro-Beijing narratives, and another 150,000 accounts dedicated to retweeting and amplifying those messages.
The network was engaged “in a range of coordinated and manipulated activities” in predominantly Chinese languages, including praise for China’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and “deceptive narratives” about Hong Kong pro-democracy protests, the company said.
The accounts also tweeted about two other topics: Taiwan and Guo Wengui, an exiled billionaire waging a campaign from New York against China’s president and party leader Xi Jinping and his administration. Most had little to no followers and failed to get much attention. The accounts were suspended under Twitter’s manipulation policies, which ban artificial amplification and suppression of information.
Twitter and other social media services like Facebook and YouTube are blocked in China.
“While the Chinese Communist Party won’t allow the Chinese people to use Twitter, our analysis shows it is happy to use it to sow propaganda and disinformation internationally,” said Fergus Hanson, director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s International Cyber Policy Center, which worked with the company on the takedown.
China denied involvement.
“It holds no water at all to equate China’s response to the epidemic with disinformation,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily news briefing on Friday.
“If Twitter wants to make a difference, it should shut down those accounts that have been organized and coordinated to attack and discredit China,” she added.
Twitter also removed more than 1,000 accounts linked to a Russian media website engaging in state-backed political propaganda in Russian, and a network of 7,340 fake or compromised accounts used for “cheerleading” the ruling party in Turkey.
Twitter removes China-linked accounts spreading false news
https://arab.news/b638c
Twitter removes China-linked accounts spreading false news
- The US social media company suspended 23,750 accounts that were posting pro-Beijing narratives
- Another 150,000 accounts dedicated to retweeting and amplifying those messages were also removed
Egyptian host Ramez Galal under heat following a lawsuit for his Ramadan prank show
DUBAI: Egyptian actor and host Ramez Galal is under fire following a lawsuit by Egyptian actress Asmaa Galal after her appearance on his Ramadan prank show “Ramez Level the Monster.”
Ramez, known for his prank programs, returned to the screen this year for the latest edition of his show, but Asmaa took legal action against him once the episode was aired, claiming that his commentary constituted mockery and bullying.
She claims Ramez opened the episode segment by making disparaging remarks about her appearance, criticizing her choice of tight leggings, commenting on her body, and questioning whether her features were natural.
According to a statement from her lawyers’ office, the actress agreed to appear on the show on the understanding that it followed the usual prank format, without being informed of any added voice-overs or edited commentary in post-production.
However, the episode included phrases and remarks that the statement said amounted to personal insults and bodily mockery, with no relevance to the prank itself.
Her legal team emphasized that while satire and entertainment are protected forms of expression, they do not justify defamation or personal humiliation, particularly when targeting someone’s dignity or physical appearance.
The statement also noted that she initially chose to remain silent out of respect for Ramadan, but ultimately decided to respond, stressing that personal dignity remains a red line regardless of the entertainment context.
The episode has caused a significant backlash, with the National Council for Women in Egypt rejecting the treatment of women in such shows, affirming that personal dignity is a “red line.”
Ramez’s show has attracted controversy for years with accusations of torture, alleged harassment and physical contact.
