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Tanks And Twitter: Sudan Generals’ Multi-pronged War

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Tanks And Twitter: Sudan Generals' Multi-pronged War

When a power struggle between Sudan’s top generals erupted into bloodshed, battle-hardened commanders unleashed every weapon in their arsenal — fighter jets, tanks and also social media.

Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo have been “flooding the media with false information”, said Raghdan Orsud of Beam Reports, which investigates disinformation in Sudan.

For five million people in Sudan’s capital — trapped inside their homes as street fighting has raged, including around the state TV headquarters — Twitter and Facebook quickly became key sources of information.

Both rival forces have since issued “twisted facts” in online media campaigns aimed at deepening the “state of fear”, said Mohamed Suliman, disinformation researcher at Boston’s Northeastern University.

The fighting has seen the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — a force tens of thousands strong, formed from the Janjaweed militia that led years of extreme violence in the Darfur region — take on the regular army.

While neither side has seemingly seized the advantage so far, in the war of words the paramilitaries are “outpacing” the army’s “old tactics”, Suliman said.

Both sides have a history of using social media to push their message in their battles for control.

Burhan and Daglo are former allies who seized power in a 2021 coup but later fell out in a bitter power struggle, which erupted into open conflict on April 15.

Daglo — commonly known as Hemeti — is a former camel trader and militia commander accused of leading forces that have committed multiple atrocities.

Recently he has sought to portray himself as a statesman.

Two days into the fighting, some social media users were taken aback when Daglo began to release posts in polished English arguing the RSF were battling “radical Islamists” who are “waging a brutal campaign against innocent people”.

Many saw proof in those messages that the RSF is “benefiting from expert service and assistance in terms of its online image and messaging”, a specialist on the region told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Experts from the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab recorded an increase in the RSF’s long-running disinformation campaign since December 2022.

DFRLab tracked two networks — one with “at least 900 potentially hijacked Twitter accounts” — that were “artificially amplifying” the popularity of RSF posts.

Before fighting started, they “portrayed Hemeti as a reformist general who supports the move toward democracy, a competent leader of a powerful paramilitary force and a viable future leader for Sudan,” DFRLab’s Tessa Knight wrote.

When fighting began, their tone shifted to brand Daglo as a “hero fighting to protect Sudan and cleanse the country of traitors”.

Burhan and the army have also sought to win the information battle, but have been using more “traditional” propaganda, Orsud said.

AFP fact-checkers have recorded a flurry of misleading posts praising the army using old footage, including from conflicts in Yemen and Libya and — in at least one instance –- a video game.

Other fake videos purported to show wads of cash being seized at Daglo’s home.

Adding to the information confusion, on Thursday, Twitter stripped accounts of free blue verification ticks, including from Burhan’s official account.

With the check marks now available for cash, at least one account falsely purporting to be the RSF bought a blue tick and lied that Daglo had died.

The RSF’s account also bought a blue tick, while Daglo’s retained a grey checkmark, signifying that he is a government official.

When AFP attempted to reach Twitter for comment, the company replied with an email showing an emoji of a coiled pile of faeces.

Social media warfare is nothing new for the RSF.

Beam Reports tracked “a systematic campaign to polish the paramilitaries’ image” on Facebook that began in May 2019, after the army’s ouster of dictator Omar al-Bashir.

Between 2019 and 2021, Facebook shut down over a thousand Facebook and Instagram accounts linked to the RSF for “coordinated inauthentic behaviour”, including hundreds just a month before Burhan and Daglo led their coup.

Seeking a rebrand from militia commander to statesman, Daglo has previously employed outside help, including a $6 million deal in May 2019 with a Canadian lobbying firm to engage with leaders including in the United States, Saudi Arabia and Russia.

The following month, in June 2019, RSF gunmen were accused of crushing pro-democracy protests in Khartoum in which 128 people were killed.

Past investigations have pointed to foreign support, including from the Russian mercenary Wagner group, who experts say is involved in lucrative RSF-controlled gold mines.

In 2019 and 2021, Facebook found Sudanese accounts boosting state and Russian media connected to the Internet Research Agency, a group linked to Wagner.

In March 2022, the so-called Troika group — Britain, Norway and the United States — said the Wagner group “spreads disinformation on social media” in Sudan.

The same month, a Sudanese security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that “Russian experts are involved in communications security and monitoring social networks”.

Khartoum has repeatedly denied Wagner operates in Sudan.

Others look towards the United Arab Emirates.

According to the DFRLab, some pages removed by Facebook in 2021 “featured administrators based in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates”.

Both countries have been close to the generals, who contributed troops to the Saudi-led coalition fighting Huthi forces in Yemen.

Orsud, of Beam Reports, said recent RSF tweets showing the “UAE timezone” led some to allege the accounts were “managed from the UAE”, claims not possible to verify independently.

Fighting on the street continues, but in terms of the media war, Orsud said she does not “think either campaign is sophisticated or hard to counter”, as Sudanese civilians take it upon themselves to find the truth.

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Top CIA agent shared pro-Palestinian to Facebook after Hamas attack: report

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Top CIA agent shared pro-Palestinian to Facebook after Hamas attack: report

A high-ranking CIA official boldly shared multiple pro-Palestinian images on her Facebook page just two weeks after Hamas launched its bloody surprise attack on Israel — while President Biden was touring the Jewish state to pledge the US’s allegiance to the nation.

The CIA’s associate deputy director for analysis changed her cover photo on Oct. 21 to a shot of a man wearing a Palestinian flag around his neck and waving a larger flag, the Financial Times reported.

The image — taken in 2015 during a surge in the long-stemming conflict — has been used in various news stories and pieces criticizing Israel’s role in the violence.

The CIA agent also shared a selfie with a superimposed “Free Palestine” sticker, similar to those being plastered on businesses and public spaces across the nation by protesters calling for a cease-fire.

The Financial Times did not name the official after the intelligence agency expressed concern for her safety.

“The officer is a career analyst with extensive background in all aspects of the Middle East and this post [of the Palestinian flag] was not intended to express a position on the conflict,” a person familiar with the situation told the outlet.

The individual added that the sticker image was initially posted years before the most recent crisis between the two nations and emphasized that the CIA official’s Facebook account was also peppered with posts taking a stand against antisemitism.

The image the top-ranking CIA official shared on Facebook.

The latest post of the man waving the flag, however, was shared as Biden shook hands with Israeli leaders on their own soil in a show of support for the Jewish state in its conflict with the terrorist group.

Biden has staunchly voiced support for the US ally since the Oct. 7 surprise attack that killed more than 1,300 people, making the CIA agent’s posts in dissent an unusual move.

A protester walks near burning tires in the occupied West Bank on Nov. 27, 2023, ahead of an expected release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages. AFP via Getty Images

In her role, the associate deputy director is one of three people, including the deputy CIA director, responsible for approving all analyses disseminated inside the agency.

She had also previously overseen the production of the President’s Daily Brief, the highly classified compilation of intelligence that is presented to the president most days, the Financial Times said.

“CIA officers are committed to analytic objectivity, which is at the core of what we do as an agency. CIA officers may have personal views, but this does not lessen their — or CIA’s — commitment to unbiased analysis,” the CIA said in a statement to the outlet.

The top CIA official has since deleted the pro-Palestinian images from her social media page. Hamas Press Service/UPI/Shutterstock

Follow along with The Post’s live blog for the latest on Hamas’ attack on Israel


Neither the Office of the Director of National Intelligence nor the White House responded to The Post’s request for comment.

All of the official’s pro-Palestinian images and other, unrelated posts have since been deleted, the outlet reported.

Palestinian children sit by the fire next to the rubble of a house hit in an Israeli strike. REUTERS

The report comes as CIA Director William Burns arrived in Qatar, where he was due to meet with his Israeli and Egyptian counterparts and the Gulf state’s prime minister to discuss the possibility of extending the pause in fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip for a second time.

Israel and Hamas agreed Monday to an additional two-day pause in fighting, meaning combat would likely resume Thursday morning Israel time if no additional halt is brokered.

Both sides agreed to release a portion of its hostages under the arrangement.

More than 14,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including many women and children, have been killed in the conflict, according to data from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.



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Lee Hsien Yang faces damages for defamation against two Singapore ministers over Ridout Road rentals

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Lee Hsien Yang faces damages for defamation against two Singapore ministers over Ridout Road rentals

High Court ruling: Lee Hsien Yang directed to compensate Ministers Shanmugam and Balakrishnan for defamatory remarks on Ridout Road state bungalows. (PHOTO: MCI/YouTube and ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images ) ((PHOTO: MCI/YouTube and ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images ))

SINGAPORE — The High Court in Singapore has directed Lee Hsien Yang to pay damages to ministers K. Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan for defamatory statements made in Facebook comments regarding their rental of black-and-white bungalows on Ridout Road.

The court issued a default judgment favouring the two ministers after Lee – the youngest son of Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and brother of current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong – failed to address the defamation lawsuits brought against him. Lee had, among other claims, insinuated that the ministers engaged in corrupt practices and received preferential treatment from the Singapore Land Authority for their bungalow rentals.

The exact amount of damages will be evaluated in a subsequent hearing.

Restricted from spreading defamatory claims against ministers

Not only did Justice Goh Yi Han grant the default judgment on 2 November, but he also imposed an injunction to prohibit Lee from further circulating false and defamatory allegations.

In a released written judgment on Monday (27 November), the judge highlighted “strong reasons” to believe that Lee might persist in making defamatory statements again, noting his refusal to remove the contentious Facebook post on 23 July, despite receiving a letter of demand from the ministers on 27 July.

Among other things, Lee stated in the post that “two ministers have leased state-owned mansions from the agency that one of them controls, felling trees and getting state-sponsored renovations.”

A report released by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau in June concluded that no wrongdoing or preferential treatment had occurred concerning the two ministers. However, Lee continued referencing this post and the ongoing lawsuits, drawing attention to his remarks under legal scrutiny.

Justice Goh emphasised that the ministers met the prerequisites for a default judgment against Lee. The suits, separately filed by Shanmugam, the Law and Home Affairs Minister, and Dr Balakrishnan, the Foreign Affairs Minister, were initiated in early August.

Lee Hsien Yang alleges in his post that two ministers leased state-owned mansions, 26 and 31 Ridout Road from an agency, one of which they control, involving tree felling and receiving state-sponsored renovations.Lee Hsien Yang alleges in his post that two ministers leased state-owned mansions, 26 and 31 Ridout Road from an agency, one of which they control, involving tree felling and receiving state-sponsored renovations.

Lee Hsien Yang alleges in his post that two ministers leased state-owned mansions, 26 and 31 Ridout Road from an agency, one of which they control, involving tree felling and receiving state-sponsored renovations.(SCREENSHOTS: Google Maps)

He failed to respond within 21 days

Lee and his wife, Lee Suet Fern, had left Singapore in July 2022, after declining to attend a police interview for potentially giving false evidence in judicial proceedings over the late Lee Kuan Yew’s will.

His absence from Singapore prompted the court to permit Shanmugam and Dr Balakrishnan to serve him legal documents via Facebook Messenger in mid-September. Despite no requirement for proof that Lee saw these documents, his subsequent social media post on 16 September confirmed his awareness of the served legal papers.

Although Lee had the opportunity to respond within 21 days, he chose not to do so. Additionally, the judge noted the novelty of the ministers’ request for an injunction during this legal process, highlighting updated court rules allowing such measures since April 2022.

Justice Goh clarified that despite the claimants’ application for an injunction, the court needed independent validation for its appropriateness, considering its potentially severe impact on the defendant. He reiterated being satisfied with the circumstances and granted the injunction, given the continued accessibility of the contentious Facebook post.

Lee acknowledges court order and removes allegations from Facebook

Following the court’s decision, Lee acknowledged the court order on 10 November and removed the statements in question from his Facebook page.

In the judgment, Justice Goh noted that there were substantial grounds to anticipate Lee’s repetition of the “defamatory allegations by continuing to draw attention to them and/or publish further defamatory allegations against the claimants.”

The judge mentioned that if Lee had contested the ministers’ claims, there could have been grounds for a legally enforceable case under defamation law.

According to Justice Goh, a reasonable reader would interpret Lee’s Facebook post as insinuating that the People’s Action Party’s trust had been squandered due to the ministers’ alleged corrupt conduct, from which they gained personally.

While Shanmugam and Dr Balakrishnan were not explicitly named, the post made it evident that it referred to them, and these posts remained accessible to the public, as noted by the judge.

Justice Goh pointed out that by choosing not to respond to the lawsuits, Lee prevented the court from considering any opposing evidence related to the claims.

Do you have a story tip? Email: [email protected].

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. Also check out our Southeast Asia, Food, and Gaming channels on YouTube.

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Tauranga judge orders Team Chopper Facebook pages taken down due to ‘threatening’ online communciations

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Tauranga judge orders Team Chopper Facebook pages taken down due to ‘threatening’ online communciations

Helen Fraser’s son Ryan Tarawhiti-Brown with Chopper, the dog at the centre of an attack on Tauranga vet Dr Liza Schneider.

The son of the woman whose Rottweiler dog attacked and seriously injured a Tauranga vet has been ordered to disable two Facebook pages that contained threats towards the vet and her business.

Ryan Tarawhiti-Brown (AKA Ryan Brown) ran and promoted a Facebook page called Team Chopper in support of his mother Helen Fraser’s legal battle to save her dog Chopper.

Chopper was euthanised following a court order handed down on August 21 by Judge David Cameron after he convicted Fraser of being the owner of a dog that attacked and seriously injured Holistic Vets co-owner Dr Liza Schneider.

The attack happened in the carpark of her Fraser St practice on October 14, 2022.

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Schneider was left with serious injuries after Chopper bit her arm, including a broken bone in her forearm, and deep tissue damage and nerve damage.

She required surgery and her arm took several months to heal.

Tauranga woman Helen Fraser, pictured here at her July trial, said that the case was "exceptional" and argued in favour of sparing Chopper's life. Photo / Ethan Griffiths
Tauranga woman Helen Fraser, pictured here at her July trial, said that the case was “exceptional” and argued in favour of sparing Chopper’s life. Photo / Ethan Griffiths

Following Fraser’s conviction, Schneider sought a takedown order after she told the court she and her practice had been the subject of constant online harassment and threats since October 2021.

Schneider said comments posted on the Team Chopper Facebook page included threats, harassment and derogatory and abusive comments.

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In an affidavit, Schneider said her Google account had also been bombarded with fake reviews which she alleged were incited by the Team Chopper page.

Court documents obtained by the Bay of Plenty Times confirm an interim judgment was made by Judge Lance Rowe on August 30 which ordered the page be taken down and any references to Schneider removed. She also asked for a written apology. This order was previously suppressed.

During a second court hearing on October 25, Tarawhiti-Brown’s lawyer Bev Edwards told Judge Cameron it was accepted her client had not complied with this order to take down the page.

Edwards said her client had instead changed the nature of the page to help promote the rights of cats and dogs, and no criticism or abuse of Schneider or Holistic Vets was made by her client in those posts.

Tarawhiti-Brown had filed an affidavit to similar effect, court documents show.

Schneider argued the change in tone had not prevented others from posting derogatory comments about her.

This included posts on September 23, which stated she should be “prosecuted for negligence”, “sucked” at her job and should lose her licence.

Edwards also submitted that Schneider was prepared to use social media to her own advantage when it suited, her and cited an online article published in June.

In Judge Cameron’s written judgement, dated November 13, Tarawhiti-Brown, who lives in Australia, was ordered to immediately disable or take down his two Facebook pages.

The judge ruled the digital communications on the Facebook pages had been “threatening” to Schneider and “amount to harassment of her”, and also caused her “ongoing psychological harm”.

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Judge Cameron also ordered Tarawhiti-Brown to refrain from making any digital communications about Schneider or identifying her or her business directly or indirectly, and not to encourage any other person to do so.

The judge said it was accepted by Schneider removal orders against Facebook/Meta were “fraught with difficulties”, including jurisdictional ones, and discontinued the takedown application against those organisations.

The judge did not order Tarawhiti-Brown to apologise to Schneider and lifted the suppression orders by consent of both parties, who had to pay their own legal costs.

Schneider and the NZ Veterinary Association, which has been supporting her, declined to comment on these court orders.

Tarawhiti-Brown was also approached for comment.

Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.

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