Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-2020

Abstract

The account @ZIENAAB_313 sent out a tweet with an accompanying photograph of a liquor store in flames behind a grimmly ironic silhouette waving an American flag. This stark image, although reported to be Arizona, captured an altogether different scene. A quick analysis of the photo and an image reference search reveals that the photo was from the George Floyd riots in Minnesota. The pairing of this quote and photo raises many questions regarding the authenticity of the account producing it, as well as its motives. The tweet was also being amplified and liked by accounts extremely similar in form and rhetoric. This leads to an even broader question: what is this account trying to accomplish and is it part of a larger network with a common agenda and operator? In this report, we examined the written, visual, and conversational content posted by @ZEINAAB_313 and other related accounts, and draw a number of conclusions. First, the aforementioned tweet contains a picture that is not what it was stated to be; second, the account is not who they purport to be; third, the existence of a network associated with the @ZEINAAB_313 profile; and fourth, the possibility of an underlying agenda within this network.

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