Fake Instagram accounts are hijacking a Sudan solidarity campaign
The country has been plagued by widespread violence since the ousting of longtime dictator President Omar al-Bashir in April.Last week, people on social media started turning their profile pictures blue in a bid to raise awareness about the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
PS. Why blue? It's in honour of Mohamed Mattar, a 26-year-old fatally shot during the 3 June crackdown. His favorite color was reportedly blue. #BlueForSudan https://t.co/hPwDsyKD54 pic.twitter.com/Ijk4mkrjt6 — Amnesty International Australia 🕯 June 18, 2019 While celebrities including Rihanna put up the color on their profiles, along with hashtags like #BlueForSudan, others apparently decided to set up bogus Instagram accounts to exploit the campaign to get more followers and shares. Read MoreOne account, @SudanMealProject, gathered nearly 400,000 followers in less than a week before Instagram removed it for violating its policies.
— Yahya June 15, 2019 In a statement to CNN, an Instagram spokesperson confirmed it removed the account from the platform for violating its policies."We will continue to look into this matter and disable further accounts we find in violation of our policies," the spokesperson said. A quick search on Instagram shows that dozens of bogus accounts with names similar to"Sudan Meal Project" -- using the same appeal and blue photo -- are still populating the social media platform.
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