Thai army denies Twitter disinformation campaign after takedowns

By Patpicha Tanakasempipat

 

People holding mobile phones are silhouetted against a backdrop projected with the Twitter logo in this illustration picture taken in Warsaw September 27, 2013. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/Files

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's army on Friday denied using nearly a thousand Twitter accounts blocked by the social media company, which said they were linked to the army and had targeted the political opposition.

 

In its first such move against Thailand-based accounts, Twitter said it had "permanently suspended" 926 accounts linked to the Royal Thai Army (RTA) for violating its manipulation policies.

 

"These accounts were engaging in amplifying pro-RTA and pro-government content, as well as engaging in behaviour targeting prominent political opposition figures," it said in a statement.

 

In response, Deputy Army Spokeswoman Sirichan Ngathong said the accounts were anonymous and did not belong to the army - which had only its official account.

 

"The issue of information operations is a misunderstanding. We don't do this. It's not one of our objectives for using Twitter," she told reporters.

 

Thailand's army ruled from a 2014 coup until elections last year, when junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha stayed on as prime minister - rejecting the complaints of critics that the ballot was a facade to keep the military's hands on power.

 

The army had previously dismissed opposition accusations it was carrying out information operations through social media - which has been a powerful rallying force for anti-government protesters over the past three months.

 

The blocked accounts appeared to have had limited influence.

 

Data from Twitter showed that more than two thirds of them had no followers. A study by Stanford Internet Observatory, a research group at Stanford University, said more than half of the accounts never tweeted and most of the tweets had no engagement.

 

"This was a coordinated but low-impact operation," it said in an analysis.

 

Twitter also took down accounts it said were linked to the governments of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, and Russia.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-10-09

 

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27 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

The blocked accounts appeared to have had limited influence.

Only Twitter noticed.

Sounds like their IT department is underfunded or their team are lacking some relatively basic skills.

12 minutes ago, aroiaroi said:

Sounds like their IT department is underfunded or their team are lacking some relatively basic skills.

If they do the same on twitter as on facebook then no wonder they dont have any impact.  On facebook they will create a account with 10-50 friends and then go into comments or send messages and just trow some random insults at people. 

 

 

 

 

It's a tricky one: who to believe? Twitter with a ton of supporting data, or the Thai "We promise no coup" Army? Which of the two has a long history of violently and murderously assaulting unarmed Thai citizens? 

Clearly a foreign conspiracy, the army would never be dishonest to the people. It's an institute of Thailand's finest and they got plenty of medals and watches to show it. Those army folks are in many q board of directors and other business for their great reputation  and honesty.  *blinks*

2 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

"The issue of information operations is a misunderstanding. We don't do this. It's not one of our objectives for using Twitter,"

Oh that's alright then just another misunderstanding...

3 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Thai army denies Twitter disinformation campaign after takedowns

????

Lots of strange pro military junta accounts appeared on TV in 2014. Still many very strange anti western anti expat accounts on TV which is strange considering its or was an expat forum.  The army have a very large IT unit. 

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Twitter also took down accounts it said were linked to the governments of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, and Russia.

Thailand in good company...

14 hours ago, Okis said:

If they do the same on twitter as on facebook then no wonder they dont have any impact.  On facebook they will create a account with 10-50 friends and then go into comments or send messages and just trow some random insults at people. 

 

 

 

 

Guess what?

The anti's do the same....

 

 

 

Note to RTA:

 

If you really have to engage in such obnoxiously manipulative measures, please be a little more creative and clandestine when choosing your Twitter handles. Handles like...

 

@WeLoveRTA

@PrayuthForever

@SaviorsOfTheNation

@ThaiArmyRocks

@ScrewThanatorn

@BestMilitaryInTheWorld

or

@PrawitIsHonest

 

...simply are too blatantly obvious.

Thai Army...more Twitter disinformation accounts than Russia impressive. A hub of fake Twitter? 

14 hours ago, Snig27 said:

It's a tricky one: who to believe? Twitter with a ton of supporting data, or the Thai "We promise no coup" Army? Which of the two has a long history of violently and murderously assaulting unarmed Thai citizens? 

Well it's not Twitter, so that narrows the field.... So maybe it's Burmese people "As no Thai would do this" 

Edited October 10, 20205 yr by Artisi

Twitter is lying through its teeth. How dare they publish such accusations ..... 

As Mandy said......"Well they would say that wouldn't they"

17 hours ago, Okis said:

If they do the same on twitter as on facebook then no wonder they dont have any impact.  On facebook they will create a account with 10-50 friends and then go into comments or send messages and just trow some random insults at people. 

 

 

 

 

They were recruited through Candy crush game comps. Muppets.

16 hours ago, Donutz said:

Clearly a foreign conspiracy, the army would never be dishonest to the people. It's an institute of Thailand's finest and they got plenty of medals and watches to show it. Those army folks are in many q board of directors and other business for their great reputation  and honesty.  *blinks*

They as honest as Bill Crosby

Who are you to believe, the Army as we didn't do it or Stanford University and Twitter monitors? I know who I trust.

Interesting but could be in relation to this:-

(I quote just 2 paragraphs from a comprehensive Reuters report, dated 8th October 2020, on Yahoo News UK this morning, and even though I no longer live in Thailand I hope I am not incriminating myself)

 

"We have made it clear that politics concerning Thailand should not be conducted from German soil," Maas told parliament.

 

"If there are guests in our country that conduct their state business from our soil we would always want to act to counteract that."

4 hours ago, hansnl said:

Guess what?

The anti's do the same....

 

 

 

The anti's don't have tanks, bayonets, jails, large bank accounts and a history of coups.

Further to my OP, I quote additional information since published in The Telegraph UK:-

 

But a growing number of pro-democracy protestors are defying those laws. The hashtag #whydoweneedaking has been trending on Twitter and demonstrators have openly called for the monarchy to be reformed.

The German government's disquiet emerged in an answer to a question in parliament.

 

With respect, are Thai Military censors aware that this information is freely available worldwide, including Thailand - at this moment??

Edited October 10, 20205 yr by Burma Bill
additional information

They need to get Twitter for defamation. Make them apologize and let all major world media know they made a mistake. ????

This represents a huge damage for the RTA and for this reason they should sue Twitter.

If they don’t sue Twitter, someone could think that Twitter is right ???? 

17 hours ago, Scot123 said:

Lots of strange pro military junta accounts appeared on TV in 2014. Still many very strange anti western anti expat accounts on TV which is strange considering its or was an expat forum.  The army have a very large IT unit. 

And an obvious one still remains !

Hiding in plain sight is the best strategy. ????
 

They can go take short jerking movements,... What's the incentive?

Thailand's army ruled from a 2014 coup until elections last year, when junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha stayed on as prime minister - rejecting the complaints of critics that the ballot was a facade to keep the military's hands on power

 

How can there be any suggestion of such absurd disinformation ????

How many of those twitter handles are here on TVF? 

7 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

How many of those twitter handles are here on TVF? 

I just checked my profile to see the recent visitors and found some who themselves have "no recent activity to show" (empty page) and "The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users".

 

Anyone with the same/similar suspicious visitors?

 

Edited October 10, 20205 yr by Flying Saucage

 

In response, Deputy Army Spokeswoman Sirichan Ngathong said the accounts were anonymous so we did not think they could be traced back to us.