88,000 Saudi-backed handles banned by Twitter
By MYBRANDBOOK
In what appears to be one of the largest crackdowns on state-backed account in its history, Twitter has banned 88,000 accounts which were part of a significant state-backed information operation. The accounts originated in Saudi Arabia.
The details of only about 5,929 accounts were shared by Twitter to protect the privacy of potentially compromised accounts. The accounts represented the core portion of a larger network of more than 88,000 accounts engaged in spammy behaviour across a wide range of topics.
These accounts have been permanently suspended from Twitter’s platform.
"In order to protect the privacy of potentially compromised accounts repurposed to engage in platform manipulation, and in response to researcher feedback requesting that we pre-filter unrelated spam, we have not disclosed data for all 88,000 accounts," Twitter said in a statement.
"Primarily, accounts were amplifying messages favourable to Saudi authorities, mainly through inauthentic engagement tactics such as aggressive liking, retweeting and replying," the platform said in a blog post late Friday.
In September, the micro blogging platform banned seven Saudi accounts for similar co-ordinated inauthentic behaviour.
The Saudi government however has not yet made a statement on Twitter's latest action.
The majority of the content from the new network was in Arabic.
"Our investigations have traced the source of the coordinated activity to Smaat, a social media marketing and management company based in Saudi Arabia,” it added.
Twitter said that the social media marketing and management company has created, purchased, and/or managed these accounts on behalf of a" but not necessarily with the knowledge of a" their clients. It has now permanently suspended Smaat's account, as well as the Twitter accounts of Smaat's senior executives.
"Smaat managed a range of Twitter accounts for high-profile individuals, as well as many government departments in Saudi Arabia," it said.
"These tactics made it more difficult for observers to identify political Tweets in the timelines of accounts, which mostly shared automated, non-political content," said Twitter.
In similar incidents earlier, Twitter in May banned nearly 3,000 accounts originating from Iran, and removed other accounts tied to Russia and Venezuela.
Raising concerns that American technology firms might be exposed to foreign governments, two former Twitter employees were charged with spying in November for the Saudi Arabia government and the Kingdom’s royal family, according to the US Justice Department.
BREAKING NEWS
TECHNO TRENDS
Nazara and ONDC set to transform in-game monetization with ‘
Nazara Technologies has teamed up with the Open Network for Digital Comme...
Jio Platforms and NICSI to offer cloud services to government
In a collaborative initiative, the National Informatics Centre Services In...
BSNL awards ₹5,000 Cr Project to RVNL-Led Consortium
A syndicate led by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (abbreviated as RVNL), along wi...
Pinterest tracks users without consent, alleges complaint
A recent complaint alleges that Pinterest, the popular image-sharing platf...
E-Magazine
TECHNOTAINMENT
Netflix adds 'Moments' feature for saving, sharing scenes from
Netflix has introduced a new “Moments” feature on its mobile app, whic
Jacqueline Fernandez come together with YouTuber Mr. Beast for
Jacqueline Fernandez has partnered with American YouTuber Mr. Beast to b
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Visa elevates Rishi Chhabra as new Country Manager for India
Rishi holds a Master’s in Industrial Engineering from The Ohio State Univ
Genesys welcomes Albert Nel as Senior VP and Regional Sales Le
Genesys continues to deepen its investment in the APAC region. Earlier this
OPEN YOUR EYES
INTERVIEWS
AMD Pensando driving innovation in the DPU architecture space
AMD Pensando stands out in the DPU (Data Processing Unit) market with its u
Alpha Max offers high end solutions in the network space to en
The vision at Alpha Max is to attain quality as the trademark and create a
HOT PICK
SonicWall Launches TZ80: A Powerful Solution for Remote Office
SonicWall announced today the launch of the TZ80, a groundbreaking securit
Gigabyte X3D Turbo: A Gaming Revolution
GIGABYTE X3D Turbo Mode is a cutting-edge feature that unifies cores distr
MAKE IN INDIA BRANDS
LENOVO INDIA PVT. LTD.
VERSA NETWORKS INDIA PVT. LTD.
SECUREYE SERVICES PVT. LTD.
ZOHO CORPORATION PVT. LTD.
EMINENT CIO'S OF INDIA
ICONS OF INDIA
ICONS OF INDIA : SANDIP PATEL
Sandip Patel is the Managing Director for IBM India & South Asia regio...
ICONS OF INDIA : VINAY SINHA
Vinay Sinha is the Managing Director of Sales for the India Mega Regio...
Icons Of India : Girish Mathrubootham
Girish Mathrubootham is the Founder of Freshworks (previously known ...
PARTNER SPEAKERS
PSU
HPCL - Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.
HPCL is an integrated oil and gas company involved in refining, market...
C-DOT - Center of Development of Telematics
India’s premier research and development center focused on telecommu...
ECIL - Electronics Corporation of India Limited
ECIL is distinguished by its diverse technological capabilities and it...
VIDEOS
Top 25 Brands
Global Indian industry
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - NIKESH ARORA, Chairman CEO - Palo Alto Networks
Nikesh Arora, the Chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks, is steering ...
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - ARVIND KRISHNA, CEO – IBM
Arvind Krishna, an Indian-American business executive, serves as the C...
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - Vinod Dham, Founder & Executive Managing Partner, IndoUS Venture Partners
Vinod Dham, known as the “Father of the Pentium Chip,” has left an...
STARNITE AWARDS 2024
ITFORUM 2024
CMO of the Year
WOMEN LEADERSHIP
IMAGE GALLERY
.jpg)
TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY
MORE VIDEOS
ADVERTISEMENTS
TECHNOLOGY DISRUPTION
UNICORNS REVOLUTIONISING
