Kingdom of Trolls? Influence Operations in the Saudi Twittersphere
Saudi Arabia has one of the highest rates of Twitter penetration in the world. Despite high levels of repression, the platform is frequently used to discuss political topics. Recent disclosures from Twitter have revealed state-backed attempts at distorting the online information environment thro...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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HOPE
2021-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journalqd.org/article/view/2559 |
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| _version_ | 1849404454845022208 |
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| author | Christopher Barrie Alexandra Siegel |
| author_facet | Christopher Barrie Alexandra Siegel |
| author_sort | Christopher Barrie |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Saudi Arabia has one of the highest rates of Twitter penetration in the world. Despite high levels of repression, the platform is frequently used to discuss political topics. Recent disclosures from Twitter have revealed state-backed attempts at distorting the online information environment through influence operations (IOs). A growing body of research has investigated online disinformation and foreign-sponsored IOs in the English-speaking world; but comparatively little is known about online disinformation in other contexts or about the domestic use of IOs. Using public releases of IO tweets, we investigate the extent of such activity in Saudi Arabia. Benchmarking these tweets to four samples of Saudi Twitter users, we find that engagement with IO accounts was lower than engagement with the average user, but equal to engagement with news accounts. Network analysis reveals that engagement with IO accounts was largely driven by a small number of influential accounts.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c2892c8d86064bcb80cc02476b30dc6e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2673-8813 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | HOPE |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media |
| spelling | doaj-art-c2892c8d86064bcb80cc02476b30dc6e2025-08-20T03:36:58ZengHOPEJournal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media2673-88132021-04-01110.51685/jqd.2021.012Kingdom of Trolls? Influence Operations in the Saudi TwittersphereChristopher BarrieAlexandra Siegel0University of Colorado Boulder Saudi Arabia has one of the highest rates of Twitter penetration in the world. Despite high levels of repression, the platform is frequently used to discuss political topics. Recent disclosures from Twitter have revealed state-backed attempts at distorting the online information environment through influence operations (IOs). A growing body of research has investigated online disinformation and foreign-sponsored IOs in the English-speaking world; but comparatively little is known about online disinformation in other contexts or about the domestic use of IOs. Using public releases of IO tweets, we investigate the extent of such activity in Saudi Arabia. Benchmarking these tweets to four samples of Saudi Twitter users, we find that engagement with IO accounts was lower than engagement with the average user, but equal to engagement with news accounts. Network analysis reveals that engagement with IO accounts was largely driven by a small number of influential accounts. https://journalqd.org/article/view/2559influence operationsdisinformationTwitterSaudi Arabia |
| spellingShingle | Christopher Barrie Alexandra Siegel Kingdom of Trolls? Influence Operations in the Saudi Twittersphere Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media influence operations disinformation Saudi Arabia |
| title | Kingdom of Trolls? Influence Operations in the Saudi Twittersphere |
| title_full | Kingdom of Trolls? Influence Operations in the Saudi Twittersphere |
| title_fullStr | Kingdom of Trolls? Influence Operations in the Saudi Twittersphere |
| title_full_unstemmed | Kingdom of Trolls? Influence Operations in the Saudi Twittersphere |
| title_short | Kingdom of Trolls? Influence Operations in the Saudi Twittersphere |
| title_sort | kingdom of trolls influence operations in the saudi twittersphere |
| topic | influence operations disinformation Saudi Arabia |
| url | https://journalqd.org/article/view/2559 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT christopherbarrie kingdomoftrollsinfluenceoperationsinthesauditwittersphere AT alexandrasiegel kingdomoftrollsinfluenceoperationsinthesauditwittersphere |