The proscribed Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) used “illegal software” topropagate its agenda on Twitter, G5 Internet Observatory, a digitalforensic arm of Islamabad Policy Research Institute, has claimed.
TLP used the software to create trends on Twitter using bots to provoke thereligious sentiments of the citizens and trigger violence which claimedseveral lives of both the policemen and its supporters. Apart from the lossof human lives, the national exchequer incurred a loss of Rs. 35 billiondue to the TLP protests that kicked off on 19 October.
In an extensive study to investigate the manipulative trends on Twitter, G5Internet Observatory observed that TLP started three trends during itsmarch towards Islamabad and used the software to amplify them.
These trends were #Labbaik Namoos-e-Risalat March, #Jangon Walay Nabi kiAamad and #Kal Tak Mua’hida Pora Karo. Around 323,000 tweets were sentagainst these three trends.
According to the study, these three hashtags trended on Twitter ondifferent days and they followed a pattern of surging at the early stageand dying down as the day progressed.
Over 400 tweets were sent each minute, meaning 7 tweets were sent in eachsecond, which was only made possible thanks to the software.
Most of the tweets were sent from accounts that shared the same tweets,liked the same tweets, and had the same followers.
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As for the humans and bots ratio, the study found that thousands of tweetsagainst these three hashtags were sent from accounts that were categorizedas bots.
Despite having strict policies against the use of bots, Twitter failed totake down such accounts and they continued to disseminate their narrativewithout any implications.
As always, TLP created thousands of accounts before launching thesehashtags. The accounts that were not taken down by Twitter after the firsthashtag trended on the platform were used in propagating the second hashtagand so on.
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