Doha (AFP)
A tweet claiming to show the start of a coup in Qatar, with a shaky video and the crackling of guns, quickly spread after being posted in early May.
This tweet was posted to an account without subscribers and with a profile picture of King Salman of Saudi Arabia.
The video has been viewed nearly 300,000 times since May 4, which suggests, according to experts, that it was retweeted by fake accounts, approaching the 3rd anniversary, Friday, of the announcement by the Saudi Arabia and four of its Arab allies sever ties with Qatar.
This example of misinformation is the latest manifestation of the dispute that erupted after an apparent hack on the website of the official press agency of Qatar QNA in May 2017.
At the time, QNA issued statements attributed to the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim ben Hamad Al-Thani, supporting Islamist groups and criticizing US President Donald Trump. Doha hastened to deny these statements which were taken up by the media in the Gulf and launched attacks against Qatar.
The hashtag "cut ties with Qatar" then spread to Twitter.
On June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt broke off diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of being too close to Iran, Ryad's regional rival, and of supporting radical Islamists, then imposed a land, sea and air embargo on him.
- Dead end -
Despite Qatar's denials and the signs of resumption of relations that followed - diplomatic contacts and the reestablishment of sports links -, efforts at reconciliation are now at an impasse.
In recent weeks, pro-Saudi Twitter accounts have spread rumors of unrest in Qatar, according to an AFP study of hundreds of tweets.
These campaigns were launched from Saudi Arabia, according to experts, some of whom differ on the level of involvement of high-ranking Saudi officials.
Based in Doha, academic Marc Owen Jones, who studies anti-Qatar disinformation, accuses Ryad.
"Anyone who spreads this kind of news technically violates Saudi law that it is illegal to spread rumors (...) To escape the law, one must have tacit approval from the regime," he said. to AFP.
Last May's announcement of a coup was followed by tweets and reports from pro-Saudi sources that dissidents were openly defying the Doha regime. This turned out to be false.
"The rumors on social networks give the illusion that these are campaigns fabricated and then taken up by mainstream media," said the expert.
- "Weighty argument" -
Jones, of Hamad ben Khalifa University, said that the publication of statements attributed to the Emir of Qatar "gave a strong argument to start the crisis and make Qatar a transgressor".
His three-dimensional visualizations of suspicious messages and seemingly automated accounts highlight, he said, the scale of the current anti-Qatar campaign on Twitter.
But some experts doubt the level of involvement of Saudi Arabia where Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman seems to be busy consolidating his power.
"I conclude that someone close to Mohammed ben Salmane (...) said to himself:" what should I do today? I know: I’m going after Qatar +, "said Michael Stephens, associate member of the think tank at the Royal United Services Institute.
David Patrikarakos, a social media expert in conflict situations, said that Saudi Arabia "is becoming an important player in disinformation".
"Given their differences, it is not surprising to see them intensifying the disinformation campaign against Qatar," he said of the Saudis.
The authorities in Qatar remain cautious, not yet publicly calling for action by social media giants against the alleged perpetrators of these campaigns.
"The first disinformation campaign in 2017 was unprecedented and no one expected a campaign coordinated in this way," an official with the communications office of the government of Qatar told AFP. "But now, in Qatar and internationally, people no longer take this kind of misinformation campaign seriously."
Such campaigns "damage the reputation of the governments" that orchestrate them, he said without naming any government.
© 2020 AFP