Internet 'flooded with Saudi fake news' over Khashoggi killing
Internet 'flooded with Saudi fake news' over Khashoggi killing
A network of dozens of websites are posing as authentic news outlets to spread fake news about the Saudi government and Khashoggi's murder, an investigation has found.
3 min read
A Saudi misinformation campaign is being waged online [AFP]
A network of at least 53 websites are posing as authentic Arabic-language news outlets to spread fake news about the Saudi government and Jamal Khashoggi's murder, a Reuters analysis has shown.
Host-server addresses and registration details showed dozens of sites were operating as part of the same network, publishing false news articles, with Twitter bots then flooding social media with links to the sites.
Citing investigators at cybersecurity firm ClearSky, Reuters said the sites had near-identical layouts and web addresses or had published the same reports.
The news agency named Alawatanews.com as part of the network, highlighting a 20 October article about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman being forced out of power.
The article quoted the official Saudi Press Agency and said MbS had been dethroned "against the backdrop of growing pressure that accompanies the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi".
The story was false, with the copy and picture lifted from a year-old royal court announcement about the removal of a former crown prince.
Reuters said the article was part of a "fierce information war" being waged online to sow confusion over developments in the royal court.
Meanwhile automated Twitter accounts concurrently promoting pro-Saudi Arabia messages "intended to cast doubt on allegations that the kingdom was involved in Khashoggi's death".
The dissident journalist and Washington Post contributer died on 2 October after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. After weeks of denial, Saudi authorities admitted his death was a premeditated murder carried out by rogue agents. However Turkish intelligence have suggested the royal court ordered the killing of 59-year-old Khashoggi, an insider turned government critic.
Computational propaganda
The fake news army showed how governments and people were able to manipulate information online to support their narratives, Lisa-Maria Neudert, a researcher at Oxford University told Reuters.
Host-server addresses and registration details showed dozens of sites were operating as part of the same network, publishing false news articles, with Twitter bots then flooding social media with links to the sites.
Citing investigators at cybersecurity firm ClearSky, Reuters said the sites had near-identical layouts and web addresses or had published the same reports.
The news agency named Alawatanews.com as part of the network, highlighting a 20 October article about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman being forced out of power.
The article quoted the official Saudi Press Agency and said MbS had been dethroned "against the backdrop of growing pressure that accompanies the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi".
The story was false, with the copy and picture lifted from a year-old royal court announcement about the removal of a former crown prince.
Reuters said the article was part of a "fierce information war" being waged online to sow confusion over developments in the royal court.
Meanwhile automated Twitter accounts concurrently promoting pro-Saudi Arabia messages "intended to cast doubt on allegations that the kingdom was involved in Khashoggi's death".
The dissident journalist and Washington Post contributer died on 2 October after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. After weeks of denial, Saudi authorities admitted his death was a premeditated murder carried out by rogue agents. However Turkish intelligence have suggested the royal court ordered the killing of 59-year-old Khashoggi, an insider turned government critic.
Computational propaganda
The fake news army showed how governments and people were able to manipulate information online to support their narratives, Lisa-Maria Neudert, a researcher at Oxford University told Reuters.
"Setting up misinformation pages purporting to be real news, leveraging highly divisive and controversial current issues, and using fake accounts and personas to conceal the originators of attacks are somewhat of the ABCs of computational propaganda," she said.
The websites identified by Reuters as spreading false news bolstering the Saudi government's preferred narratives have operated as part of the same network since 2017, said ClearSky analyst Ohad Zaidenberg.
A Reuters investigation tracked down Mohammed Trabay who is listed as owner of many of the 53 sites. Trabay initially confirmed he was the owner, but subsequently denied via email any involvement in the websites.
All bar three of the sites have been taken down, Reuters added.
This week, Twitter identified and suspended a network of bots on Thursday that pushed out pro-Saudi tweets following Khashoggi's murder.Hundreds of fake profiles had been promoting Saudi narratives - through tweets and retweets - using hashtags such as "We all trust Mohammad bin Salman", "Qatari intelligence kills Khashoggi" and "Saudi Arabia the greatest".
The social media site, while finding no evidence the Saudi government controlled the accounts despite their origin in the Gulf region, said the barrage of pro-Riyadh tweets constituted spam and breached its terms of use.
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