TY - JOUR
T1 - Twitter Propaganda Operations
T2 - Analyzing Sociopolitical Issues in Saudi Arabia
AU - Albert, Craig Douglas
AU - Aleroud, Ahmed
AU - Yang, Yufan
AU - Melhem, Abdullah
AU - Rutland, Josh
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.
PY - 2023/10/1
Y1 - 2023/10/1
N2 - The purpose of this article is to explore Arabic-language Tweets based out of Saudi Arabia to investigate the social media landscape. Specifically, this article seeks to address the question, “What thematic issues concerning the U.S. socio-political landscape are present in Arabic-language Twitter postings?” And, “To what extent can these issues be described as propagandic in nature?” To do so, we propose a machine-learning and artificial intelligence span detection approach to identify propaganda Tweets in Middle Eastern Countries, with a focus on Saudi Arabia. As opposed to previous work, this article maps and investigates different propaganda categories using the BEND Social Cyber Security framework. This article then proceeds to a case study analysis of state-sponsored targeted propaganda from Saudi Arabia and briefly describes the categories of propaganda uncovered. We then relate those categories to the BEND Framework and conclude with policy recommendations and discussion.
AB - The purpose of this article is to explore Arabic-language Tweets based out of Saudi Arabia to investigate the social media landscape. Specifically, this article seeks to address the question, “What thematic issues concerning the U.S. socio-political landscape are present in Arabic-language Twitter postings?” And, “To what extent can these issues be described as propagandic in nature?” To do so, we propose a machine-learning and artificial intelligence span detection approach to identify propaganda Tweets in Middle Eastern Countries, with a focus on Saudi Arabia. As opposed to previous work, this article maps and investigates different propaganda categories using the BEND Social Cyber Security framework. This article then proceeds to a case study analysis of state-sponsored targeted propaganda from Saudi Arabia and briefly describes the categories of propaganda uncovered. We then relate those categories to the BEND Framework and conclude with policy recommendations and discussion.
KW - BEND framework
KW - Saudi Arabia
KW - artificial intelligence
KW - machine learning
KW - social media analysis
KW - the Middle East
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85180827601&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85180827601&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/20563051231216964
DO - 10.1177/20563051231216964
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85180827601
SN - 2056-3051
VL - 9
JO - Social Media and Society
JF - Social Media and Society
IS - 4
ER -