Hezbollah's Twitter Presence (Update 2) - The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center

Overview

On November 7, 2019, following the suspension of several Hezbollah Twitter accounts, the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC) issued a list of accounts of Hezbollah’s activists and institutions that were still active. A follow-up examination of the list showed that the popular Twitter account of Jawad Nasrallah, the son of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, had been suspended; however, he opened a new Twitter account to replace it. In addition, Ali Shoeib, al-Manar TV’s south Lebanon correspondent, changed the spelling of his username of his Twitter account, apparently as a preventive measure (he had previously tweeted that his Twitter account had been mentioned in an ITIC bulletin, adding, for his many followers, “…Goodbye, we will meet again in a new account”). The other Twitter accounts of institutions and activists mentioned in the ITIC bulletin are still active (as of November 16, 2019).

A tweet from Ali Shoeib on his new Twitter account, supporting the PIJ during the recent round of escalation, in which the PIJ fired about 560 rockets at populated areas in Israel. The Arabic reads, “Tel Aviv fears the warning sirens…and ‘al-Burak’ rocket fire [the nickname of a new PIJ rocket]. Blessed are the hands of the men of the ‘resistance’ [i.e., PIJ terrorists]” (Ali Shoeib’s new Twitter account, November 13, 2019).

Jawad Nasrallah Opens a New Twitter Account^{^[1]}

Jawad Nasrallah, son of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, has a popular Twitter account where he posts news and propaganda supporting Hezbollah’s ideology (including loyalty to Iran, the glorification of shaheeds and fostering Hassan Nasrallah’s personality cult). Jawad Nasrallah’s name is on US Treasury Department’s list of terrorists and terrorist groups designated as supporting terrorism.
On the evening of November 11, 2019, Jawad Nasrallah’s Twitter account was suspended. An ITIC examination ( November 16,2019) showed that Jawad Nasrallah had already opened a new Twitter account to replace the previous one. The address of the new account is https://twitter.com/mohammadjdns (with the user name @mohammadjdns, Jawad Nasrallah’s full name).

The home page of Jawad Nasrallah’s new Twitter account
(Twitter account, November 20, 2019).

Ali Shoeib Initiates a Change of His Twitter Address

Ali Shoeib is the south Lebanon correspondent for Hezbollah-affiliated al-Manar TV and its Radio Nour. He customarily uses his Twitter account to report on events in south Lebanon, tweeting Hezbollah’s policies and ideology.
On November 11, 2019, he tweeted that his Twitter account had been mentioned in an ITIC bulletin about Hezbollah-affiliated Twitter accounts. He wrote, “…Goodbye, we will meet in a new account.” He added a screenshot of the ITIC’s bulletin entitled “Hezbollah’s Media Empire” (September 1).

Right: Screenshot from Ali Shoeib’s previous Twitter account. The Arabic reads, “…Goodbye, we will meet in a new account” (September 1, 2019). Left: “This account does not exist.” Screenshot from the @ali_shoeib1 account (Twitter account, November 14, 2019), which was suspended.

The screenshot is from November 14, 2019, but apparently he moved to a new account a few days earlier.
The user name of Ali Shoeib’s Twitter account was changed to Ali_Shoeib1970. This case was different from previous instances in which Twitter suspended an account. Ali Shoeib preserved all the contents he had posted to his previous account, which he opened at the beginning of 2018, as well as the number of his followers (80,300, as of the evening of November 14, 2019). That may indicate that the change of the account name was initiated by Ali Shoeib himself as a preventive measure on the assumption that Twitter might suspend his account.

Right: Screenshot from Ali Shoeib’s new Twitter account (with the user name of ali_shoeib1970) (Twitter, November 20, 2019). Left: Ali Shoeib posted a picture to his new Twitter account of two Lebanese children holding a picture of Bahaa Abu al-Atta, senior terrorist of the PIJ’s northern brigade in the Gaza Strip, killed in an IDF targeted attack. The tweet reads, “From south Lebanon to the Gaza Strip. A blessing to the shaheed, the commander Bahaa Abu al-Atta” (Twitter account of Ali Shoeib, November 17, 2019).

Status of the Twitter Accounts of Other Hezbollah Activists and Institutions

On November 7, 2019, the ITIC published examples of the active Twitter accounts of Hezbollah activists and institutions still open, even after Hezbollah’s Twitter accounts had been blocked (mostly those belonging to al-Manar). An examination conducted by the ITIC (updated to November 16, 2019) showed that the accounts were still active. They included accounts belonging to al-Manar TV, Hezbollah institutions of its civilian infrastructure (which supports its military infrastructure), and of Hezbollah activists.^[2]

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^[1] Update of the November 13, 2019 bulletin, "Hezbollah' Twitter Presence (update)." ↑
^[2] For further information, see the November 7, 2019, bulletin, Twitter suspended accounts affiliated with Hezbollah, especially al-Manar. However, an Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center examination revealed that Hezbollah continues to maintain a significant presence on Twitter, even after the suspension." ↑