If you’re an avid follower of Twitter, chances are you’ve seen the surfacing of what we know to be an "Anti-Meghan Markle" hate coalition — a campaign that recently resurfaced on the internet that features a series of social media hate profiles, after months of radio silence. The campaign is now back in the public's eye after going viral via a series of "Anti Meghan" monetized YouTube videos.
As a result of the recent uptick in hate aimed at the Duchess of Sussex, the hate campaign is currently under an investigation that is being conducted by Bot Sentinel, a platform created to tackle troll accounts and fake user profiles. In addition to the free platform's new reports, the company is already familiar with this particular case, as it conducted prior reports that were filed in recent months.
Markle has faced never-ending public harassment over the years from tabloids, critics and anonymous social media trolls, and it seems that there is no way around receiving criticism from the public eye, no matter what sanctions, restrictions and guidelines there are that strongly prohibit hate speech on the internet.
Where does Markle go from here? Below is all we currently know about the situation.
It’s reported that 70% of the hateful posts come from 83 online accounts.
The Cut recently reported that Bot Sentinel found that much of the targeted harassment against Markle surfaced from only a "small but coordinated group of users" — 70% of the slander came from a mere 83 accounts. Because the hate posts went viral, the tweets reached an estimated 17 million Twitter viewers, according to the Cut — ultimately creating an unstoppable social media monster. “This campaign comes from people who know how to manipulate the algorithms, manipulate Twitter, stay under the wire to avoid detection and suspension,” said Bot Sentinel CEO Christopher Bouzy to BuzzFeed News. “This level of complexity comes from people who know how to do this stuff, who are paid to do this stuff.”
Exclusive: We published our report on the coordinated hate campaign targeting Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex. We illustrate the conspiracy, and we believe it is the most comprehensive and damning report on this topic.
You can read it here: https://t.co/fNJ9ydqLcc
pic.twitter.com/EjG5fDIqFv— Christopher Bouzy (@cbouzy) January 18, 2022
And though the Twitter platform strongly prohibits hate speech and cult-like followings, it seems as though Twitter users have a way of getting around the thresholds and breaking the guidelines. In recent reports, Bot Sentinel also disclosed that Twitter users typically use coded racist language, create private and fake profiles to keep their identities anonymous and specifically craft their social media bios to claim that they are "parody" accounts to avoid algorithms that would catch them.
In response to the overwhelming amount of harassment Markle is facing, a Twitter spokesperson recently told BuzzFeed News that they are “actively investigating the information and accounts referenced in this report — we will take action on accounts that violate the Twitter Rules.”
Reports state that hate accounts are commonly created by bot networks.
In a recent report that was released in November, Bot Sentinel said that the large amount of hate profiles against Markle were created by a targeted bot coalition. Notable journalists and news commentators were said to have frequently interacted with the hate accounts identified.
“Nine out of 10 prominent Twitter accounts that primarily cover the royal family, in fact, had interacted with at least one of the 84 hate accounts we were monitoring,” said Bot Sentinel in the report.
A new hate campaign recently surfaced on YouTube, reaping more than $400,000 of monetization revenue.
After only a few months of radio silence, a new hate campaign has recently surfaced on YouTube, where online Twitter slander is further shared on monetized channels.
According to the Cut, and as a result of the recent uptick in slander, Bot Sentinel released another report on Tuesday, stating that “single-purpose hate accounts coordinate on several platforms, use Twitter to spread disinformation, monetize their hatred, and circulate conspiracy theories on YouTube.”
Though two hate-spewing YouTube channels already exist, a third one recently surfaced, creating more than 70 million views with an estimate of $494,730 in channel revenue.
Reports allege that the hate posts are racially motivated.
In addition to Bot Sentinel's findings on how "single-purpose hate accounts coordinate on several platforms," the company shared in recent findings that the hate posts are racially motivated, and further disclosed that many of the profiles have made direct threats to Markle and her family, which all pose a serious security threat.
It’s unclear whether or not Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have seen the posts.
Though it’s unclear whether Markle and her husband have seen the posts, it's clear that the couple is currently seeking police protection. In recent coverage on CNN, the media outlet revealed details on Markle and Harry's next steps that would ensure the family's safety while they traveled to the U.K.
The media's monetized hatred is an ongoing accumulation of the harassment Harry and Markle have faced over the years, which ultimately proves to be a never-ending cycle.
And despite the tabloids, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex share one common sentiment as a result of the public scrutiny — protecting their family is of utmost priority.
