(This event was organised by MEI’s Political Economy Research Cluster, as part of its quarterly public talks series.)

Abstract

Automated Twitter accounts, or bots, have played a crucial role in poisoning online discussions in the Arabic Twitterverse. However, this phenomenon remains largely unexplored. Using three years of accumulated data, this lecture reveals the different ways bots have been weaponised to spread disinformation and fake news, much of which largely relates to promoting an aggressive Saudi-led foreign policy. From attempting to control the narrative on Bahraini internal politics and the spreading of sectarianism content to the use of Twitter as an instrument for high volume propaganda-delivery during the Qatar Crisis, this research will demonstrate the extent to which bots have manipulated political discourse online. By providing empirical examples across multiple case studies, it is clear that Arabic language propaganda is not only prevalent in the region, but finds its way into global news outlets – impacting on international news discourses.