PARIS Researchers call them the “American blondes” – bright-eyed environmentalists tweeting passionately in support of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and its handling of the forthcoming COP28 climate summit. The only problem? They are not real. Ben, Brianna, Emma,...
Summit organisers did not respond to AFP requests for comment. The Guardian newspaper cited an unnamed spokesman as saying the fake accounts were “generated by outside actors unconnected to COP28 and are clearly designed to discredit COP28 and the climate process".They say his position as head of the state-owned oil company Abu Dhabi National Oil Company means a conflict of interest for someone chairing discussions about ending planet-warming carbon emissions.
When Mr Romain Ioualalen, a campaigner from Oil Change International, tweeted about the risk that COP28 hosted by the Emirates “slows down the transition away from fossil fuels”, he received several responses from some of the accounts identified as fakes by researchers. They all claimed to be young non-Emiratis with an interest in climate change and human rights and many voiced support for Dr Jaber, CCR’s director Lawrence Carter told AFP.
“It would be very unusual for authentic users to create and use these kinds of fake profile pictures or stock photos,” said Dr Katharina Kleinen von Koenigsloew, a professor of communication science at Hamburg University.
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