A new online influence operation that seeks to counter West Papua’s independence movement appears to have emerged on prominent social media sites. The discovery comes roughly one year after a similar network of fake accounts was uncovered by Bellingcat.
Although the new web of between 100 and 200 accounts has made little impact thus far, it appears to stretch across Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Instagram, utilising methods that have not previously been documented in the online conversation around West Papuan independence.
These include the deployment of accounts with fake profile images generated via machine learning tools as well as the use of Dutch and German language posts that appear designed to influence the debate abroad.
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Source: West Papua: New Online Influence Operation Attempts to Sway Independence Debate – bellingcat