CrosswordNewsletters
DAILY BEAST
ALL
  • Cheat Sheet
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Entertainment
  • Media
  • Innovation
  • Opinion
  • World
  • U.S. News
  • Scouted
  • Travel
CHEAT SHEET
    POLITICS
    • Biden World
    • Elections
    • Opinion
    • National Security
    • Congress
    • Pay Dirt
    • The New Abnormal
    • Right Richter
    • Trumpland
    MEDIA
    • Daytime Talk
    • Late-Night
    • Fox News
    U.S. NEWS
    • Identities
    • Crime
    • Race
    • LGBT
    • Extremism
    • Coronavirus
    WORLD
    • Russia
    • Europe
    • China
    • Middle East
    SCIENCE
    • Hunt for the Cure
    • Rabbit Hole
    TRAVEL
      ENTERTAINMENT
      • TV
      • Movies
      • Music
      • Comedy
      • Sports
      • Sex
      • TDBs Obsessed
      • Awards Shows
      • The Last Laugh
      HALF-FULL
        CULTURE
        • Power Trip
        • Fashion
        • Books
        • Royalist
        TECH
        • Disinformation
        SCOUTED
        • Face Masks
        • Clothing
        • Technology
        • Bedroom
        • Kitchen
        • Home
        • Fitness
        • The Case For
        • I'm Looking For
        • New Kids On the Block
        COUPONS
        • Adidas Promo Codes
        • DoorDash Promo Codes
        • H&M Coupons
        • Hotwire Promo Codes
        • Wine.com Discounts
        • Vitacost Coupons
        • Spanx Promo Codes
        • StubHub Promo Codes
        Products
        NewslettersPodcastsCrosswordsSubscription
        FOLLOW US
        GOT A TIP?

        SEARCH

        HOMEPAGE
        Middle East

        Conservative Sites Pull Articles, Twitter Suspends Accounts After Daily Beast Investigation

        DUPED

        The group of fake accounts planted pro-United Arab Emirates opinion articles in various right-wing publications.

        Madeline Charbonneau

        Cheat Sheet Intern

        Updated Jul. 07, 2020 5:06PM ET / Published Jul. 07, 2020 10:38AM ET 

        Glenn Chapman/AFP via Getty

        A Middle East propaganda network that duped conservative media went dark on Tuesday after The Daily Beast revealed that fake personas had been used to plant more than 90 opinion pieces in 46 different publications.

        Sixteen Twitter accounts tied to the network, all bearing fake identities spreading propaganda, were suspended Monday after The Daily Beast sent Twitter the results of its extensive investigation. Twitter said the accounts were suspended for violating their platform manipulation policy.

          The publications duped by the fake writers were largely conservative outlets including Washington Examiner, Newsmax, and American Thinker. The pieces often espoused pro-United Arab Emirates beliefs and were tough on Iran, Turkey, and Qatar. The phony authors behind the pieces used fake credentials to give themselves more credibility, and propped up the articles that other fake personas had written on their own fake accounts.

          After The Daily Beast exposed the network, the Washington Examiner removed its article written by one of the fake personas, named “Raphael Badani,” leaving only an editor’s note: “This op-ed has been removed after an investigation into its provenance and authorship.”

          A LinkedIn profile for “Raphael Badani” was also deleted.

          Spiked, a British libertarian site, added a note atop both its articles by another fake persona, saying the outlet “takes seriously any claim of questionable authorship.”

          Human Events, meanwhile, affixed an editor’s note atop their article written by a fake persona, but defended its publication regardless, writing: “We have reviewed the substance of this piece, and have not found any factual errors—and we still agree with the thesis of the piece. As such, we are keeping the piece up, and adopting its arguments as a publication.”

          The National Interest, The Post Millennial, Jewish News Syndicate, and The Jerusalem Post all deleted their articles without any statement. Newsmax, too, deleted all articles by “Badani” and scrubbed his profile page listing him as an “insider”—all without any editor’s notes.

          Additionally, The Arab Eye and Persia Now—the two fake news websites used to bolster the phony personas’ credentials—deleted their websites entirely without any explanation.

          Madeline Charbonneau

          Cheat Sheet Intern

          @maddicharbmadeline.charbonneau@thedailybeast.com

          Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.

          READ THIS LIST

          DAILY BEAST
          • Podcasts
          • Cheat Sheet
          • Politics
          • Crime
          • Entertainment
          • Media
          • Covid-19
          • Half Full
          • U.S. News
          • Scouted
          • Travel
          • Subscription
          • Crossword
          • Newsletters
          • Podcasts
          • About
          • Contact
          • Tips
          • Jobs
          • Advertise
          • Help
          • Privacy
          • Code of Ethics & Standards
          • Diversity
          • Terms & Conditions
          • Copyright & Trademark
          • Sitemap
          • Coupons
          © 2022 The Daily Beast Company LLC