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.

Overview

• Hezbollah maintains a significant presence on the social networks, especially Facebook and Twitter, an important component of its media empire constructed with Iranian support over the years.^[1] There are hundreds of profiles, pages and accounts operated by Hezbollah institutions, activists and supporters. They post information which is part of Hezbollah’s media strategy and ideological contents, along with political messages that serve the interests of both Iran and Hezbollah. The contents include incitement to terrorism and the dissemination of contents stressing Iran’s Khomeinist ideology, which Hezbollah is committed to.

During 2018 several Hezbollah’s Twitter accounts were blocked but Hezbollah made the necessary adaptations and continued using the social networks without any significant interruption of its social media conduct. Another attempt to limit its activity on Twitter was made recently. On November 2, 2019, Twitter suspended at least seven al-Manar accounts: its main account, the account of its news room, of its English, French and Spanish channels, and the accounts of figures associated with al-Manar (Hezbollah-affiliated al-Akhbar in Lebanon, November 4, 2019). Hezbollah claimed Twitter’s move had been made without warning, leading to the loss of about a million followers of the channel (al-Manar TV, November 2, 2019).

• So far Hezbollah has not formally responded to its suspension from Twitter. However, an article published in the Hezbollah-affiliated al-Akhbar claimed Twitter’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, had capitulated to pressure from the United States Congress after having been given an ultimatum demanding Twitter block Hezbollah and Hamas Twitter accounts by November 1, 2019.^[2] According to al-Akhbar, the pressure was part of an international campaign to silence the “voices of the resistance to Israel” by violating the freedom of expression customary in Western countries. Al-Akhbar represented the measure as part of the “Internet war” being waged against “the resistance media” [i.e., the media of the terrorist organizations].

An examination carried out by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center revealed that there are al-Manar Twitter accounts that are still active. In addition, there are official accounts of Hezbollah activists, supporters and institutions which belong to Hezbollah’s civilian infrastructure (which supports Hezbollah’s military infrastructure). They include accounts of institutions which were designated by the United States (the entire Hezbollah organization, its military, civilian and political wings, is designated by the United States as a “terrorist organization” and a “trans-national criminal group”^[3]). Therefore, in ITIC assessment, the influence of the current measure will be like those before it, short-term and without effectively harming Hezbollah’s Twitter presence.^[4]

Examples of Active Hezbollah Twitter Accounts

Overview

• The following are examples of the active Twitter accounts or Hezbollah institutions, activists and supporters (as of the morning of November 5, 2019). They belong to three categories: accounts of programs, people and institutions belonging to al-Manar TV, accounts of Hezbollah’s civilian institutions (whose activities support its military infrastructure), and accounts of Hezbollah activists or supporters.

Accounts linked to al-Manar

• The account of al-Manar TV’s breaking news. Its address is https://twitter.com/almanarbreaking. It has 12,100 followers and is still active (as of the morning of November 6, 2019).

• The account of the al-Manar TV program “They live with Allah.” Its address is https://twitter.com/ahyaarabihim. The account’s stated objective is “to make [the audience] familiar with the shaheeds of the Islamic resistance [i.e., Hezbollah] and to present its social and military nature and achievements from the establishment of the resistance [i.e., Hezbollah] to this day.” The account has 1,887 followers is still active (as of the morning of November 6, 2019).

• The account of Ali Shoeib, a correspondent for Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV and al-Nour radio in south Lebanon. Its address is https://twitter.com/ali_shoeib1. It has 76,200 followers and is still active (as of the morning of November 6, 2019). Ali Shoeib uses the account to report about events in south Lebanon and to post material identical with Hezbollah’s policies and ideology.^[5]

Accounts of institutions belonging to Hezbollah’s civilian infrastructure^[6]

• The account of the al-Emdad Association, a Hezbollah charity association. Its address is https://twitter.com/emdadcommittee. It has 867 followers and is still active (as of the morning of November 5, 2019).

• The account of the Islamic Health Organization, which provides health services and operates emergency and rescue services for Hezbollah operatives and the Shi’ite population in general.^[7] Its address is https://twitter.com/hayaahealth. It has 678 followers, and was most recently active on February 21, 2014.

• The account of the Hezbollah’s Martyrs Foundation, which supports the families of Hezbollah operatives who were killed.^[8] It glorifies shaheeds and turns them into role models for the younger generation, which is expected to join the ranks of Hezbollah. Its address is https://twitter.com/shaheedmoqawem. It has 7,115 followers and is still active (as of the morning of November 6, 2019). The Lebanese Martyrs Foundation is a branch of the Iranian Martyrs Fund. Both have been designated by the United States Department of Treasury as supporting terrorist organizations.

• The account of Radio al-Nour, Hezbollah’s radio station.^[9] Its address is https://twitter.com/alnourradio. It has 849 followers and is still active (as of the morning of November 6, 2019). Radio al-Nour is designated by the United States.

• The account of Hezbollah’s Education Mobilization, a Hezbollah institution dealing with the indoctrination of young Shi’ites. It operates student cells and encourages Shi’ite students to enlist in Hezbollah upon graduation.^[10] Its address is https://twitter.com/orgtarbaweya. It has 1,737 followers and was most recently active on August 1, 2019.

• The account of the Imam al-Mahdi Scouts, Hezbollah’s youth movement, which indoctrinates children and adolescents, preparing them to join Hezbollah.^[11] Its address is https://twitter.com/almahdiscouts. It has 186 followers and was most recently active on January 17, 2019.

• The account of the al-Mahdi schools, which are operated by Hezbollah.^[12] The schools indoctrinate the students with radical Shi’ite ideology (based on the ideology of the Iranian Islamic Revolution) to prepare them to join the ranks of Hezbollah’s military wing when they graduate. Its address is https://twitter.com/mahdischools. It has 599 followers and was most recently active on October 17, 2019.

The account of Hezbollah’s network of the al-Mustafa schools.^[13] The schools indoctrinate the students with radical Shi’ite ideology (based on the ideology of the Iranian Islamic Revolution) to prepare them to join the ranks of Hezbollah’s military wing when they graduate. Its address is https://twitter.com/islamtd74. It has 1,799 followers and was most recently active on April 1, 2019.

Examples of Twitter accounts of Hezbollah activists and supporters

• The account of Sheikh Ali Daamouche, deputy chairman of Hezbollah’s council of operations. Its address is https://twitter.com/aliidaamouche. It has 32 followers and was most recently active on September 16, 2019.

• The account of Jawad Nasrallah, son of Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah. Jawad Nasrallah posts material supporting Hezbollah’s propaganda, including loyalty to Iran, glorification of shaheeds and support for fostering Hassan Nasrallah’s personality cult. Its address is https://twitter.com/JawadNsrlh. It has 16,500 followers and is still active (as of the morning of November 6, 2019). Jawad Nasrallah is on the list of designations imposed by the United States Department of the Treasury. In January 2016 it was revealed that Jawad Nasrallah used his Facebook account to recruit Palestinians from the Tulkarm region to a terrorist squad planning terrorist attacks against Israel (Ynet, January 20, 2016; IDF website, August 17, 2019).^[14]

• The account of Dr. Ali al-Mokdad, a Hezbollah representative in the Lebanese parliament. Its address is https://twitter.com/dr_mokdad. It has 10,100 followers and was most recently active on July 19, 2019.

• The account of Nawaf al-Moussaoui, formerly a Hezbollah representative in the Lebanese parliament. It has 9,552 followers, and was most recently active on May 22, 2018.

• The account of Dr. Hussein al-Haj Hassan, a Hezbollah representative in the Lebanese parliament, formerly minister of industry in the Harari government of 2016. Its address is https://twitter.com/dr_hajhassan. It has 11,700 followers and was most recently active on October 23, 2019.

[1] For further information, see the September 1, 2019 report, "Hezbollah's media empire." ↑
[2] It was reported that on September 17, 2019, four Congressmen sent a letter to the CEOs of Twitter, YouTube and Facebook page demanding the removal of materials and accounts affiliated with organizations designated by the American administration as terror groups. Hamas and Hezbollah were on the list of designated groups. On October 22, 2019, the four Congressmen sent another letter to Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter, regarding the use foreign terrorist organizations, among them Hezbollah and Hamas, make of Twitter. The letter demanded that Twitter account remove contents aligned with Hamas and Twitter account, update the terms of use of Twitter by November 1, 2019, to make them "consistent with our laws." On November 2, 2019, as noted above, Twitter suspended the accounts of al-Manar TV and the accounts of all the media affiliated with Hamas (The National, November 3, 2019). ↑
[3] For further information, see the November 4, 2018 bulletin, "The United States recently designated Hezbollah as one of the five leading transnational criminal groups and approved bills intensifying the sanctions imposed on Hezbollah and on those supporting it." ↑
[4] This report does not deal with the suspension of Hamas' accounts, only Hezbollah's. ↑
[5] For information about the activities of Ali Shoeib, see pages 37-39 in the September 1, 2019 report, "Hezbollah's media empire." ↑
[6] Hezbollah's civilian institutions support the organization's military infrastructure and at the same time are an important component of the state-within-a-state Hezbollah established within the Shi'ite population in Lebanon. A great deal of information is available about Hezbollah's civilian institutions on the ITIC website. ↑
[7] For further information, see the July 24, 2019 bulletin, "The Islamic Health Organization: Hezbollah institution providing health services to Hezbollah operatives and the Shiite population in general as a means for gaining influence and creating a Shiite mini-state within Lebanon." ↑
[8] For further information, see the bulletin, see the March 14, 2019 bulletin, "Hezbollah’s Martyrs Foundation: purpose, mode of operation and funding methods." ↑
[9] For further information, see the September 1, 2019 bulletin, "Hezbollah's media empire." ↑
[10] For further information, see the July 2, 2019 bulletin, "Hezbollah’s “Education Mobilization:” An institution engaged in the indoctrination of Shiite students in Lebanon’s state and private educational systems, in preparation for their joining Hezbollah upon graduation." ↑
[11] For further information, see the July 20, 2019 bulletin, "The Imam Al-Mahdi Scouts Association: Hezbollah’s youth movement which indoctrinates youth with Iranian radical Shiite Islam and serves as a source of youngsters who join Hezbollah." ↑
[12] For further information, see the June 26, 2019 bulletin, "Hezbollah operates networks of private schools indoctrinating Shiite youth in Lebanon with the ideology of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and with loyalty to Hezbollah and the path of terrorism." ↑
[13] For further information, see the June 26, 2019 bulletin, "Hezbollah operates networks of private schools indoctrinating Shiite youth in Lebanon with the ideology of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and with loyalty to Hezbollah and the path of terrorism." ↑
[14] For further information, see the January 24, 2016 bulletin, "Hezbollah Handled a Palestinian Squad in Tulkarm, Which Planned Terrorist Attacks" ↑

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