Disinformation campaigns about the Tigray Genocide go beyond social media. A recent paper from Leiden University’s African Studies Centre uses bad research and a conspiracy theory to “debunk” genocide, mass rape, forced starvation, and massacres of Tigrayan civilians. 🧵/1 - ThreadSky

burbridgeduke.bsky.social • 92 days ago

Disinformation campaigns about the Tigray Genocide go beyond social media. A recent paper from Leiden University’s African Studies Centre uses bad research and a conspiracy theory to “debunk” genocide, mass rape, forced starvation, and massacres of Tigrayan civilians.
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Reposted from Zecharias Zelalem

THREAD: Weaponizing of Twitter in 2021 to spread denialism & manufacture consent for mass slaughter in Ethiopia, a mini case study. I bring up social media damage, both to urge @bsky.app to work on preventative mechanisms & to raise awareness of the horrors it has caused, far from western shores.

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burbridgeduke.bsky.social•92 days ago

This paper by Prof. Jan Abbink, noted scholar of Ethiopia and Professor at @unileiden.bsky.social has a misleading title. The paper is not about social media, it’s about denying genocide, slaughter, starvation, and systematic sexual violence committed against Tigrayan civilians.
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burbridgeduke.bsky.social•92 days ago

Abbink examines what he calls “social media memes,” which include the worst imaginable atrocities: genocide, forced starvation, systematic sexual violence, civilian massacres.

Sadly, none of this was “generated by social media accounts.” It all happened.
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burbridgeduke.bsky.social•92 days ago

First, Abbink’s theory. At the root of the so-called “disinformation,” Abbink imagines a global conspiracy promulgated by partisans of Tigray’s regional political party, the TPLF. He marvels at the reach of this conspiracy and blames it for the length of the war.
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burbridgeduke.bsky.social•92 days ago

I have an alternative theory: There was no global conspiracy. These atrocities actually happened. The people who Abbink calls “Pro-TPLF activists” were the families of the victims who were trying to get the world to notice that their people were being slaughtered.
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burbridgeduke.bsky.social•92 days ago

If the genocide, weaponized starvation, systematic sexual violence, and civilian massacres actually happened, then you would expect social media activity surrounding these topics. Abbink says they didn’t happen. Let’s examine his claims...
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burbridgeduke.bsky.social•92 days ago

Genocide
Facts first. This is a comprehensive analysis by the @newlinesinst.bsky.social, which found “reasonable basis to believe that members of the ENDF, ASF, and the EDF have committed genocide against Tigrayans.”
https://newlinesinstitute.org/rules-based-international-order/genocide-in-tigray-serious-breaches-of-international-law-in-the-tigray-conflict-ethiopia-and-paths-to-accountability-2/
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