Investigation Reveals Coordinated Facebook Campaign Against Moroccan Journalists

According to the investigation, a network of 43 Facebook accounts used fake profiles, synchronized messages and other tactics as part of a coordinated online campaign to defame Omar Radi until his arrest on July 29, 2020. It was the media Chouf TV which, in an article, called for the arrest of the journalist. Then this article and others denouncing Omar Radi were enthusiastically shared and liked by Facebook users. Comments describing Radi as a "cursed traitor", a "spy" and a "seller" had been made.

The same network of 43 fake accounts also attacked Soulaimane Raissouni, editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Akhbar al-Yaoum. Chouf TV and other state-aligned media outlets contributed to this before and after his arrest in May 2020. Omar Radi was sentenced on appeal to six years in prison for charges of "espionage" and "rape", while Soulaimane Raissouni received five years in prison for "sexual assault".

The results of the investigation prompted Meta - Facebook’s parent company - to remove the 43 accounts in May 2022. These accounts were linked to a previous network of 385 accounts, six Facebook pages and 40 Instagram accounts that Meta "deplatformed" in February 2021.