QuoteApproximately 19 Pages, 66 profiles, six groups, and 42 Instagram accounts posted about Palestinian issues, the Middle East, and Islam. This was the largest portion of the broader takedown, and had been active since the end of 2020 until it was suspended in June 2022. The Pages presented themselves as either legitimate news Pages, cultural Pages, or satirical Pages. The network criticized the Hamas government and claimed that Iran was one of the last supporters of the 4 Palestinians. While some anti-Israel language was used occasionally, the network focused its criticism on the Hamas government.
Anti-Hamas posts claimed the government was ineffective, had corrupt leaders, contributed to unemployment, and actively worked against the interests of civilians in Gaza. Posts highlighted topics like rising unemployment in Gaza, poor healthcare infrastructure, or excessive policing against civilians. One post from February 2022 linked to a news article discussing a Twitter campaign that used the phrase "They kidnapped Gaza" to protest Hamas' rule in Gaza. A post from June 2022 criticized Hamas for demolishing Palestinian homes for government projects. Two emblematic posts are shown in Figure 5 on the next page.
QuoteAssets in the group heavily promoted narratives supportive of the U.S. on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Telegram. These posts primarily focused on U.S. support for Central Asian countries and their people, presenting Washington as a reliable economic partner that would curb the region's dependence on Russia.
QuotePosts claimed the government took food from Iranians to give to Hezbollah. One Instagram post said that by supporting Hamas and Hezbollah, the late Qasem Soleimani had brought poverty and misery to Iran. Soleimani was the former head of the Quds Force, a branch of Iran's IRGC. Some tweets highlighted embarrassing events for Iran, such as a reported power outage that caused the Iranian chess team to lose an international online tournament.
QuoteAnother anti-Iranian narrative claimed in late 2021 and early 2022 that the IRGC was forcing Afghan refugees to join militias fighting in Syria and Yemen and that those who refused were being deported. Like accounts in the Middle East group, many posts focused on the actions of Iranian-backed militias in Syria, accusing fighters of committing human rights abuses and Tehran of sponsoring terrorism.
QuoteAssets denounced the Russian government's support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian airstrikes that have killed and injured thousands of civilians in Syria since 2015 (Figure 23). Facebook and Instagram accounts also noted that Russia impeded humanitarian aid deliveries to Syrians by blocking decisions at the U.N., and promoted the work of U.S. humanitarian aid and support programs for Syrian refugees. The topic was one of the most covered across the group, as assets mentioned "Сирия" (Syria) over 600 times on Twitter and over 1,500 times on Facebook.
QuoteAccounts in the Middle East group consistently shared content that supported the U.S.-recognised Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) while criticizing the actions of Iran and Iraqi militias backed by Tehran. These accounts repeatedly asserted that Iraqi militias supported by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were loyal to Tehran over the Iraqi government and were fighting to implement Iran's imperialist project in the Middle East. Some accounts also accused Iranian backed militias of causing civilian casualties through rocket strikes on Baghdad's Green Zone.
In particular, accounts in the group promoted content critical of Qais al-Khazali, the leader of the influential Shiite paramilitary organization Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq. The U.S. designated Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq as a foreign terrorist organization in January 2020 after its members were accused of killing demonstrators at anti-government protests in Iraq in 2019.
Other posts from the Middle East group accused Tehran of engineering a drought in the country by jeopardizing the water supply of cross-border rivers, smuggling weapons and fuel through Iraq to Iranian fighters in Syria, and fuelling Iraq's crystal meth epidemic.
Quote from: yankeedoodle on November 03, 2024, 09:02:27 PM
Ukraine was set to become the "New Israel"
https://tapnewswire.com/2024/11/02/flags-dont-lie/