Highlights: [P]aid clout-chasers on X, formerly Twitter, are using the conflict to boost their profiles — and a few who have successfully pivoted to pro-Palestine content were formerly known for hate speech, extremism, and conspiracy theories.
Other verified accounts that have quickly increased in size over the past several weeks by focusing on the suffering of Palestinians, but previously displayed a pattern of transphobic and LGBTQ comments, include former UFC and MMA fighter Jake Shields, banned YouTuber Ryan Dawson, and an anonymous “anti-woke” account called “Lord Bebo.”
This is the best summary I could come up with:
These aggressive strategies have led unsuspecting users seeking up-to-date context on the war, particularly narratives that challenge official statements from the U.S. and Israel, to interact with and amplify potentially harmful accounts.
It’s because the account, launched in December 2022, was originally used largely to protest the innocence of misogynist manosphere figure Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan, who were detained in Romania that month and later charged with rape and human trafficking.
Anastasia Maria Loupis, a doctor in Denmark who has long argued that the Covid vaccines are harmful and face masks are ineffective — elsewhere railing against the “trans agenda” — gained about 240,000 followers in the past month, putting her in reach of a million.
“The people who helped create, develop, distribute, and force the ‘vaccines’ on you and your children are all supporters of Israel,” she tweeted in mid-October, along with a video identifying Jewish pharmaceutical executives with the yellow Star of David badge used by Nazis.
In practice, however, Hinkle’s frenetic, near-constant tweets are rife with misinformation — as when he falsely claimed that old photos showed “thousands” of U.S. Marines now landing in Israel or current U.S. airstrikes in eastern Syria — and harrowing, uncensored violent images.
He also whitewashes military actions taken by Vladimir Putin against Ukraine and calls Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a “hero” despite his government’s own deadly siege against a refugee camp of Palestinians in the Yarmouk district Damascus.
The original article contains 1,252 words, the summary contains 239 words. Saved 81%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
