It is about 83 accounts that together have a potential reach of 17 million readers. Although Twitter has suspended several, its administrators have used tactics to circumvent the controls of the platform. And they are not bots, but people in complete coordination.
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Harry and Meghan, the Dukes of Sussex, are victims of a complex and well-oiled Twitter hate campaign.
And it’s not about bots, according to an analysis developed by Bot Sentinel Inc.
After an investigation, which started in October this year, the portal discovered a total of 83 accounts behind this crusade.
He called 55 of them “primaries”, with one in particular openly looking for followers interested in joining her work.
The other 28 were classified as “secondary”, that is, they take care to amplify the message of the previous ones.
“Combined with the help of their 187,631 followers, these accounts were responsible for approximately the 70% of the original and derivative hatred directed against Harry and Meghan “, concluyó Bot Sentinel Inc.
Using internal and third-party analytical tools, the inquiry estimated that the outreach potential of only this sample reached the 17 million users.
Twitter in the crosshairs
The exercise included the creating new profiles and Twitter.
By using them to review the content of only two of these accounts, Twitter itself suggested following several “hate profiles”.
“On several occasions, Twitter recommended us to follow these accounts,” accused the site.
But the questions against this social network do not end there.
Bot Sentinel Inc’s work, analyzing accounts, mentions, retweets, and following and follower lists, found that some accounts were “shamelessly” coordinated.
This also determined that Twitter suspended 40% of primary accounts.
However, those who handle them returned to the platform with some tactics to evade the company’s magnifying glass.
For example, some incorporated the word “parody”, without being it.
Meanwhile, others “encoded” racist language against Meghan and several protected her tweets.
In other words, to read their content, you had to ask permission to follow them.
Twitter como Facebook
Part of the above remember Facebook behaviors, another internet giant seriously questioned in recent times.
In mid-October, the BBC premiered the documentary Online abuse: why do you hate me?
Specifically, journalist Marianna Spring opened profiles for a man she called “Barry” on Facebook and Instagram (both from Meta).
By liking, watching specific videos and commenting on certain violent or inappropriate posts about women, Barry’s profiles were recommended to follow “hostile” pages against them.
By the end of the exercise the alternatives had mutated and became very more extreme than initially suggested.
Thus, part of the options had, for example, disturbing memes related to sexual acts, material on sexual violence and publications justifying violations or harassment.
Royal earthquake with epicenter in Harry and Meghan
Meghan Markle entered the UK royal family on May 18, 2018.
The “honeymoon” with the tabloids was short-lived and this type of press, very powerful in that country, launched itself against the actress with everything.
Without justifying it, that might be seen coming: Lady Di is perhaps the symbolic woman of the tabloid harassment. Sarah Ferguson is not far behind.
However, indoors, there were also problems in the royal family and those close to it. According to her, she accused, even with racism.
It all ended with the announcement of his departure from the clan, on January 8, 2020.
The news shook the conservative establishment English and went viral in a matter of minutes around the world.
In early 2021, Meghan gave an interview to Oprah Winfrey.
There she revealed that during the pregnancy of her first child they discussed the eventual problems that the baby would face.
In addition, he indicated that he heard of conversations concerned about skin color of the minor when he was born.
Eventually Harry and Meghan left the UK, departed for Canada and then Los Angeles, California, where they have been living until today since March 2020.
Tomorrow thursday, Meghan will make her debut on Ellen DeGeneres’ show, a space that is heading towards its end after 19 years on the air, plagued by accusations of workplace harassment and a bad environment to work.
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