In recent days there have been calls by opponents to take to the streets in Egypt and demonstrate against the regime of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Friday 11 November.
Coinciding with the calls for demonstrations, an electronic propaganda war has broken out on social media, between opponents and supporters of the Egyptian regime.
The two sides launched a series of attacks using hashtags, some of which aimed to directly target citizens, while others were used to question the other side’s credibility.
It was also clear that both sides wanted to win the race to the top of the most popular hashtag lists, even if this reached the extent of the systematic use of programmed automated accounts, known as “electronic boards”, to flood electronic platforms with supporting propaganda content.
However, what has come of these efforts? Are reactions in virtual reality different from tangible reality?
War tags
Opponents of the Egyptian regime called to take to the streets and squares to demonstrate in Egypt on Friday, and the most prominent hashtags they used were: #Date_With_Freedom and #Demonstrations_11/11.
The most popular tweets with these hashtags were for dissident Abdullah Al-Sharif, who resides outside Egypt, and included a recording from his YouTube channel in which he tried to rally support for the calls he made to demonstrate.
That tweet has been retweeted more than 3,243 times. The video also garnered 2.4 million views, on his YouTube channel, followed by over four million accounts.
On the other hand, regime supporters ridiculed these calls and underlined their failure by using counter hashtags, notably: #Nobody Down and #The World_Respects_Egypt.
The most popular tweets with these counter hashtags were for an undocumented account that goes by the name of Ali Al-Maliki, and the account description says he is a “Saudi writer, journalist and political critic”, and it seems clear from the activity of this narrative that supports the regime of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.
The tweet contains allegations against supporters of posing as agents, treason and membership in the Muslim Brotherhood, which is banned in Egypt. That tweet has been reposted more than 1,662 times.
“unreliable recordings”
Opponents of the Egyptian regime have released video clips, which they claim were video recordings, some showing protesters taking to the streets to protest and others showing security reinforcements being deployed by Egyptian authorities in anticipation of the protests, but the BBC was unable to verify their authenticity independently.
Among them are clips that were allegedly filmed in the city of Suez on Friday evening, while tweeters have indicated that they may date back years, during the imposition of a curfew due to the outbreak of the Corona virus.
However, some of these clips have been proven to be old or shot in a different location than those stated.
Such a widespread clip, which according to its editors was filmed on Friday in Cairo’s Tahrir Square…
But actually, it was registered in 2019.
Also, this recording, which was said to have been filmed in the city of Suez on Friday…
But it proved old and was released in 2019 as well.
Regarding this tweet, he claims that there will be demonstrations in Aswan on Friday, but in reality, this is old footage of a big fire in a popular tourist restaurant.
“Nobody Came Down”
On the other hand, supporters of the Egyptian regime invented this counter hashtag, and its owners mocked the “failure of rally calls” and pointed to the “absence of protests on the ground.”
And a member of the Egyptian parliament, Mustafa Bakri, indicated in a tweet that he “went out after Friday prayers looking for the demonstrations and crowds they preached about, but found no one”.
Bakri also referred to “fabricated videos” prepared by those he described as “traitors” in another tweet.
Other tweets mocking the calls for demonstrations were disseminated through the hashtag #Nobody_Download.
the situation on the ground
The Egyptian security services would have intensified the deployment of their personnel near the main squares and streets, in conjunction with calls for demonstrations, promoted through the media and social network accounts.
However, no unusual apparitions have appeared on the streets of Cairo, and several government agencies have denied what was reported on social networks regarding the closure of markets or the suspension of public transport.
In response to what was reported on the communication sites regarding the suspension of all public transport on Friday, corresponding to 11 November, the Media Center of the Council of Ministers, in contact with the Ministry of Transport, issued a statement denying these reports, and confirmed that they are completely unfounded.
photo released, Gov. e.g
worsening conditions
- In recent months, Egypt has suffered from a widespread increase in the cost of living in the country, as inflation has tripled from last year.
- The value of the local currency also fell in less than a year to about 60% of its value.
- About a third of the country’s population lives below the poverty line, according to official statistics.
