Qatar accused of launching 23K fake anti-Saudi Twitter accounts

CAIRO – 7 June 2017: A study revealed that 23,000 “fake” Twitter accounts have been created to circulate rumors and post anti-Saudi Arabia tweets, according to Thursday tweets by Saud al-Qahtany, the General Supervisor of the Saudi Center for Studies and Media Affairs.

He said the accounts in question use certain phrases, such as “pseudo Saudi”, “how much is your salary”, “you are slaves”, and “glorified Tamim” once or more in every six tweets. The users of the account present themselves as Saudi citizens who support the Qatari regime.

A total of 43 percent of the accounts use a profile picture of the Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, and nine percent used a picture of the Emir and his father Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani.

Meanwhile, 94 percent of them do not use personal profile pictures, four percent use stolen profile pictures, and two percent of the pictures have not been verified by the study.

Of all the accounts in the study, 82 percent of them used pseudonyms, and the rest have not been verified.

Using Arabic words that are not used in the Saudi dialect also highlights that the accounts are not genuine, Al-Qahtani said.

Furthermore, 32 percent of the accounts come from Qatar, 28 percent from Lebanon, 24 percent from Turkey and 12 percent from Iraq.

Interactions between the said accounts and other accounts that call for a revolution in Saudi Arabia or spread rumors amount to retweeting, liking or replying to one of every six tweets.

Al-Qahtany said this means there is a single administration directing all these accounts.