For years Black Twitter has been a haven for Black people to share their opinions, jokes, and ideas amongst each other. From advertisements and the start of trends to viral memes, there is no doubting the value of Black intellectual property.
However, recently Twitter users have noticed fake pages infiltrating the Black Twitter community. Often these accounts have stock image profile pictures of Black men posing as Trump supporters proclaiming to denounce the Black Lives Matter movement and join the Republican party. Some of these tweets have even gone viral with over 13,000 retweets.
Here's @KRON619, an African-American who was brand new to the Trump train.
He's been a "Dem my whole life" until "I finally saw their racism." Over 12,000 retweets.
Turns out he's a stock photo.https://t.co/W45kCCUzfr pic.twitter.com/iPOjDuizvM
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) August 27, 2020
In response, Twitter has begun to take action and suspend the accounts for violating spam guidelines, reports Business Insider. Thankfully, the company is cracking down on accounts that violate its policies on coordinated inauthentic behavior ahead of the 2020 election.
Since the beginning of the summer, Twitter has suspended 7,000 accounts circulating QAnon conspiracy theories and more than 170,000 accounts spreading propaganda from China, Russia, and Turkey, reports Business Insider.
While these pages may be fake to some — from their lack of tweets and tone-deaf statements — others may be more gullible to the harmful messages they are spreading. With the upcoming U.S. presidential election, one can only hope that social media platforms can stop the of spread political propaganda that is common during this season.