A study of several cases of manipulation by political parties on social media (Twitter) to sway citizen between polarized and emotional discussions

1. Smart GOVs Swaying Public Opinion:
Is investigative journalism becoming part of
the infotainment?
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‫الذكية‬ ‫السياسية‬ ‫المنظومات‬
:
‫للترفيه؟‬ ‫سلعة‬ ‫االستقصائية‬ ‫الصحافة‬ ‫اصبحت‬ ‫هل‬

2. The Shapes of Discussion Analysis
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3. Political Discussions
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Polarized:
- Dichotomy: with / against – left / right…
- Strong and non-negotiable positions
- High risk of conflict
- Political debate
Community Clusters:
- Different ideas, different priorities
- Social / Emotional debate

4. Garbage Crisis 2015-2016
Analysis of 200,000+ interactions on Twitter – Sep.8, 2015 to Feb. 2, 2016
Civil society groups
Community Clusters
Two major groups: IranianAffairs and KSA24
Polarized crowds
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A health/societal problem becomes a political issue, paralyzing street/civil society action

5. Resignation of PM Saad Hariri - Nov. 4, 2017
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A serious political issue becomes a joke

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Switching
to
Emotions
Resignation of Hariri Hashtag
Community Clusters (analysis of 10,149 interactions)
Nov. 4, 2017 – 11:00 Nov. 6, 2017 – 00:00
Sharing
Emotions

7. How Serious is Serious?
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1. A judge is ignoring the public prosecutor order
2. A judge is being supported openly and physically by
supporters of a political party
3. A judge is taking investigation in her own hands,
without judicial police support
4. Mecattaf is a witness, not a criminal. And, in any case
innocent until proven guilty.

8. Categorization of Tweets
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Rational
Emotional

9. Analysis of 20,202 Tweets – Apr. 20 to 25, 2021
• 600 tweets with manual categorization
• 19,202 using machine learning
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Jayawant N. Mandrekar,
Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve in Diagnostic Test Assessment,
Journal of Thoracic Oncology, Volume 5, Issue 9, 2010,

10. Strong Dominance of Emotional Tweets
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11. One week later
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12. Lokman Slim Assassination
• Twitter Data Jan. 14 to Mar. 14, 2021
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13. Accusations of Collaboration
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15. Conclusion
• “The reptilian brain always wins”
• The role of ONG for Investigation not to become infotainment
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