“Electronic armies” the most dangerous weapon that the Middle East have
Middle East is progressing towards online hate campaigns or disinformation to intimidate activists, journalists or dissidents. This is the most dangerous and dirty war that were waged on social media. In some cases, this even led to murder. For instance, the case of Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered inside the Saudi Embassy in Turkey in 2018.
These armies do not have guns and work online only but that doesn’t mean they’re not dangerous. The term “electronic armies” is commonly used in the Middle East for such forces. “The concept is simple,” as the internet freedom advocates from Access Now explain. “A group of people assume false identities in order to participate in internet forums and social media to send — or suppress — a specific message.”
For a very long time, Middle Eastern countries had indulged themselves into misinformation activities. They have been taking help from both domestic and foreign firms to run influence campaigns.
Two months back, Iran was accused of interfering in Scottish Parliamentary election, spreading misinformation online. It had been meant to assist the pro-independence parties and destabilise the UK.
Earlier also, UAE signed a contract with Swiss intelligence firm Pluteos AG worth millions of dollars to run an influential campaign in Europe against Qatar.
Social media accounts were removed that were found to be linked with Smaat a Saudi digital marketing firm and New Waves based in Egypt. These two companies were found to be involved in running information operations having multiple objectives.
Qatar too was involved in running social media campaigns against adversaries on cases involving the International Football Federation Association (FIFA) and the attack of pro-Emirati journalist and lobbyists such as Ghanem Nuseibeh’s Cornerstone Global with the help of Italian consultant-journalist Paolo Fusi.
Social media companies are rapidly attribute disinformation campaigns to digital marketing firms and journalists play an important role in uncovering these firms with connections to state actors and provide insights into how these firms function.
