Facebook has removed 18 community pages that violated its terms by spreading co-ordinated inauthentic posts to create the impression a large number of Libyans yearned for the return of the Qaddafi family nine years after the uprising that toppled the long-time dictatorship, Stanford University researchers claimed.
The accounts were removed for violating the platform's terms of service by amplifying their message through the use of inauthentic accounts.
The 18 pages, studied by Stanford University's Cyber Policy Centre, posted identical nostalgic posts about former Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi and supportive posts for his son Saif Al Islam.
Muammar Qaddafi was killed in 2011 following uprisings that blew across the Middle East, deposing him from his 42-year unchallenged rule.
There has been an outstanding warrant from the International Criminal Court for murder and persecution amounting to crimes against humanity against Saif Qaddafi, 47, since 2011. The charges related to actions he is accused of coordinating across Libya in two weeks in February 2011, through the state apparatus and security forces.
He had little to do with his father's regime, living in London for a number of years. But when the Arab uprising came to Libya, he allegedly directed attacks against the rebels.
He was captured by the Abu Bakr Al Sadiq militia, but set free under an amnesty deal in 2017.
The researchers found the pages taken down by Facebook often posted exactly the same content at precisely the same time, and often linked to state media from Russia.
But the origins of the pages are unknown. "Given no indication that they were attributable to an outside actor, they provide insight into the strategies that Saif Gaddafi supporters are using, and the narratives they are pushing," the researchers wrote in a blog on the topic.
The posts "worked to create the impression that Saif Gaddafi has broad popular support among Libyans", they added.
This includes a number of the pages sharing a report by ex-state news agency Jana News describing a poll purporting to show that if elections were to be held tomorrow, Saif Gaddafi would win. The Stanford team could not find the original polling results and questioned the veracity of the reports.
Jana News said the poll was carried out by the Foundation for National Values Protection, an organisation run by Alexander Malkevich, "who was briefly the editor of USA Really, a propaganda site linked to the Internet Research Agency in 2018 and who is on the US sanctions list for interfering in its 2016 elections," the Stanford blog said.
In another Russian link, the pages were all founded at the beginning of 2019, when a Russian plan to instate Saif Qaddafi to lead Libya was in motion.
Bloomberg reported in March that Saif held a series of meetings after April 2019 with two Russian advisors – Maxim Shugaley, an elections consultant, and his translator, Samir Seifan.
Notes taken from the meetings, confiscated on the pair's arrest in Tripoli on espionage charges, showed Saif was keen to build influence in Libya with a view to running for office.
An aide to Saif told Bloomberg he wanted good relations with western countries, too, but the Russians offered their help first.
The Stanford team also found co-ordinated posts and videos accusing Libya's Government of National Accord of over-reporting coronavirus cases in the country to distract from the current conflict with Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army.
Facebook did not respond to a request for comment on taking down the 18 pages.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
Brief scores:
Pakistan (1st innings) 181: Babar 71; Olivier 6-37
South Africa (1st innings) 223: Bavuma 53; Amir 4-62
Pakistan (2nd innings) 190: Masood 65, Imam 57; Olivier 5-59
The Birkin bag is made by Hermès.
It is named after actress and singer Jane Birkin
Noone from Hermès will go on record to say how much a new Birkin costs, how long one would have to wait to get one, and how many bags are actually made each year.
Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions
There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.
1 Going Dark
A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.
2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers
A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.
3. Fake Destinations
Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.
4. Rebranded Barrels
Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.
* Bloomberg
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
UAE squad
Esha Oza (captain), Al Maseera Jahangir, Emily Thomas, Heena Hotchandani, Indhuja Nandakumar, Katie Thompson, Lavanya Keny, Mehak Thakur, Michelle Botha, Rinitha Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Siya Gokhale, Sashikala Silva, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish (wicketkeeper) Udeni Kuruppuarachchige, Vaishnave Mahesh.
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – First ODI
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
'Nope'
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jordan%20Peele%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Daniel%20Kaluuya%2C%20Keke%20Palmer%2C%20Brandon%20Perea%2C%20Steven%20Yeun%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The%20Sandman
%3Cp%3ECreators%3A%20Neil%20Gaiman%2C%20David%20Goyer%2C%20Allan%20Heinberg%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStars%3A%20Tom%20Sturridge%2C%20Boyd%20Holbrook%2C%20Jenna%20Coleman%20and%20Gwendoline%20Christie%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
