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Russia, Syria: Anti- and Pro-Assad Facebook Comment Attack

Categories: Eastern & Central Europe, Middle East & North Africa, Russia, Syria, Citizen Media, Digital Activism, Human Rights, International Relations, Law, Media & Journalism, Politics, Protest, War & Conflict, RuNet Echo

Facebook pages of some Russian media outlets (e.g., Afisha [1], Bolshoi Gorod [2], Esquire Russia [3], Channel 1 [4], MTV Russia [5]) were deluged with copy-pasted comments [6] [ru, ar] from users who appeared to be supporters of the Syrian opposition earlier today. An excerpt from a typical comment [7] [ru, ar]: “Syria's regime is killing people with the Russian weapons. If it hadn't been for the Russian veto, the killing of the people in Syria would have been stopped a few months ago. […]” On President Medvedev's [8] and PM Putin's [9] Facebook pages there are comments [en, ru, ar] from both the opponents and supporters of the Syrian regime (e.g., here [10] and here [11]).