Cuba

Twitter released a dataset containing a network of 526 ‘fake accounts’ that were part of an information operation associated with government-linked groups, including the Federación de Estudiantil Universitaria (a student union organisation) and the Unión de Jóvenes Comunistas (the youth wing of the Communist Party of Cuba). The operation promoted favourable views of Cuba’s reputation to largely Spanish-speaking audiences, focusing on issues such as Cuba’s medical diplomacy and promoting past and present Cuban leaders. The network’s most commonly mentioned people were Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, Fidel Castro and deceased poet José Martí, as well as US presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama. The network amplified criticisms of the US, predominantly targeting the ongoing sanctions that impose strict limitations on Americans sending money to and visiting Cuba. The network also showed indicators of techniques aimed at growing the network’s reach, such as using hashtags like #FollowMeAndI’llFollowYou and tweeting lists of accounts to retweet and follow. While some accounts used Twitter for Android and Twitter’s web app to tweet, some notably used content management platforms such as RoundTeam, Nubrec and Linkis.