NIF-grantee FakeReporter has uncovered a network of 70 fake Twitter accounts that incite violence against those protesting the new government’s policies, and aim to undermine the legitimacy of their protests.
For example, a fake Twitter user with the name “Shoshana Shimoni” encouraged demonstrators to bring Molotov cocktails to demonstrations, attack police, and assemble improvised guns.
Another fake account, “Hani Mazar,” using the name of a real Jerusalem-based lawyer with no connection to the account, tweeted dozens of times every day referencing sowing chaos, her delight at the death of an ultra-Orthodox client, and the fact that Israel is split between religious and secular people. The real Hani Mazar has received hundreds of hostile responses and even been threatened with disciplinary measures by the Jerusalem Bar Association.
FakeReporter will continue to uncover dangerous misinformation on social media like incitement coming from this network of fake accounts.