Read on Twitter
Talib accounts have #get_out_of_Afghanistan trending on AFG twitter. Reminds me of research I conducted during the September 2019 presidential elections.
THREAD:
I followed 400 twitter accounts that posted content promoting Taliban propaganda. Here's some of the findings; 1/
THREAD:
I followed 400 twitter accounts that posted content promoting Taliban propaganda. Here's some of the findings; 1/
Who are they?
1. These are unequivocally bots: there are zero signs of life in 90% of the Talib twitter accounts. No pictures, none of the content authentic accounts generate. It's just Taliban propaganda pictures, tweets & videos. 2/
1. These are unequivocally bots: there are zero signs of life in 90% of the Talib twitter accounts. No pictures, none of the content authentic accounts generate. It's just Taliban propaganda pictures, tweets & videos. 2/
Most of these accounts seem to be managed from one room or several persons disseminating coordinated tweets. 3/
Some of them have mistakenly posted tweets with their location indicated as Islamabad. You might ask how Twitter accounts in Rawalpindi make trends in Kabul. Well, welcome to technology. You can fake your location. 4/
2. TB twitter accounts R activated at certain times when needed. In th Sep 2019 elections, content focused on thr Kunduz take-over. 1 fake video of a soldier's surrender circulated across social media. Th messaging was to show th intl community that TB were gaining territory. 5/
3. War of narratives?
When there's a stalemate in the battlefield, the war is fought over narratives. The content is intended to terrorize social media space and prove to citizens that the government does not have capacity to provide services. 6/
When there's a stalemate in the battlefield, the war is fought over narratives. The content is intended to terrorize social media space and prove to citizens that the government does not have capacity to provide services. 6/
Remember Taliban' covid19 task force? Pics of a Taliban medical team covered in all white PPE circulated across social media. It was a SM stunt. Int'l "experts" & journos applauding it. Later media reported that the TB task force only led to further infections of th virus. 7/
4. They target western "analysts". Most of them are followed by international experts who use them as sources for information. I have for several times informed some of these internationals who follow these accounts. 8/
They are successful in what they aim to do: terrorize social media space. If you follow 10 Taliban accounts that post 10 tweets a day, you have literally f***ed your day, & you probably think they will soon take over America. 9/9
Also follow this thread by @SkyZamaray https://twitter.com/SkyZamaray/status/1359937607602495490
. @EzzatMehrdad also wrote an article for the @Diplomat_APAC: 'Inside Afghanistan’s Online Battlefield' in which he quoted me. https://thediplomat.com/2019/10/inside-afghanistans-online-battlefield/
Read @DaiMirksha's thread about Taliban's use of different social media platforms in different languages. https://twitter.com/DaiMirksha/status/1360045166158036995?s=19
. @ARH2025: only 22% of Taliban tweets in the past two days promoting a hashtag are genuine. Most of the tweets originated from accounts in Pakistan. The blue dots indicate original tweets.
https://twitter.com/ARH2025/status/1360231942730489859?s=19
https://twitter.com/ARH2025/status/1360231942730489859?s=19
These twitter handles from Pakistan were just created to promote Taliban hashtag.
*Correction: 22% tweets, retweets from genuine accounts for the specific period of time during the day today.
Videos of Taliban attacks on int'l forces have been shared in Taliban social media campaign. The narrative promoted with the videos is about the defeat of the Americans in the war. https://twitter.com/ARH2025/status/1360254310173573121
And here's @Fahim_AY's thread analyzing 17K Taliban tweets promoting hashtag Get_out_of_Afghanistan. Here's one fact about the campaign: almost all of the tweets were sent from Pakistan. https://twitter.com/Fahim_AY/status/1360573731823906822
