Fake Twitter accounts, known as “American blondes,” have emerged to support the UAE’s handling of the COP28 climate summit, with researchers identifying coordinated activity and labeling it as “astroturfing” aimed at influencing public opinion.
Researchers call them the “American blondes,” bright-eyed environmentalists tweeting passionately to support the UAE and its handling of the forthcoming COP28 climate summit. The only problem? They are not real.
Ben, Brianna, Emma, Caitlin, and Chloe exude a refreshing optimism about the role of the Gulf state and its COP28 chief, oil executive Sultan Al Jaber, in promoting climate action.
Their sultry profile shots resemble drawings from a fantasy novel, apparently concocted using an AI-powered picture generator. Their names, locations, and environmental credentials only appear together online.
Analysts consulted identified these and dozens of other Twitter accounts involved in coordinated activity, labeling the tactic as “astroturfing,” a false grassroots campaign to influence public opinion.
The accounts posted clusters of similar messages nearly simultaneously, including retweets of posts from the United Arab Emirates embassy in Washington.
After being flagged by researchers, many accounts appeared to have been suspended on Twitter.
Digital disinformation analyst Marc Owen Jones, who flagged the suspicious tweets in a Twitter thread, shared a list of 93 accounts he identified as involved in the “astroturfing” effort, some created over two years ago.
Miroslava Salazar with AFP
