{"id":4856,"date":"2021-07-15T13:33:09","date_gmt":"2021-07-15T13:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/?p=4856"},"modified":"2021-07-15T13:33:14","modified_gmt":"2021-07-15T13:33:14","slug":"fake-social-media-operation-from-abroad-catalyzed-cuba-incident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/fake-social-media-operation-from-abroad-catalyzed-cuba-incident\/","title":{"rendered":"Fake Social Media Operation from Abroad Catalyzed Cuba Incident"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The renowned Spanish analyst Juli\u00e1n Mac\u00edas Tovar has broken down the intense campaign extended across social media networks against the Cuban Revolution in the last few days. It was launched from outside of Cuba and one of its directors was the Argentinean Agus Antonelli, a right-wing political operator who has participated in several campaigns against leftist movements in Latin America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The operation made extensive use of robots, algorithms, and accounts recently created for the occasion, intended to amplify the messages issued by the directors of the manipulative campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first account that used the hashtag #SOSCuba to comment on the COVID situation in the country was one located in Spain. It posted more than a thousand tweets on July 10 and 11, with automation of five retweets per second. The account indicated by Tovar, @kisabel20092013, has now been suspended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antonetti is part of the right-wing Fundaci\u00f3n Libertad<\/em> (Liberty Foundation, of the Liberal Network for Latin America). Antonetti has been an active participant in hoax campaigns using bots on social media networks including those mounted against Bolivia\u2019s former president Evo Morales and Mexico\u2019s current president Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador, as previous investigations revealed, leading to restrictions that Facebook applied to numerous accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his investigation Tovar revealed that campaigns were carried out for artists to participate using a tweet with the hashtag #SOSCuba, drawing attention to recent deaths caused by COVID and an alleged lack of medical resources. What was striking about Tovar\u2019s findings was that almost all of the initial retweets came from newly created accounts or those that had a maximum age of one year. More than 1,500 of the accounts that participated in the operation using the hashtag #SOSCuba were created between July 10 and 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The international media then took it upon themselves to provide greater visibility to the campaign, and referred to those artists whose accounts participated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday, July 11, with hundreds of thousands of tweets and the participation of numerous artists\u2019 accounts, the hashtag became a trending topic in several countries. At that time, the first demonstration in San Antonio de Los Ba\u00f1os, Cuba, was reported from the United States by the account of a Twitter user called Yusnaby with thousands of RTs. As Tovar wrote: \u201cCuriously Yusnaby (US Navy) is the account that shows up the most by far in threads because it is part of the patterns of automated fake accounts that spread hoaxes and hate campaigns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00bfQu\u00e9 est\u00e1 pasando en Cuba?
Analic\u00e9 los m\u00e1s de dos millones de tuits usando el HT #SOSCuba<\/a> que comenz\u00f3 pidiendo ayuda humanitaria con la participaci\u00f3n de artistas y miles de cuentas reci\u00e9n creadas y bots por las muertes por COVID y terminaron en movilizaciones en las calles. pic.twitter.com\/XDq2nki3Ne<\/a><\/p>— Juli\u00e1n Mac\u00edas Tovar (@JulianMaciasT) July 12, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote>