Twitter suspends, reinstates key Syria coverage account

• Published date: 12 October 2021
• Author: SETH J. FRANTZMAN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

By mid-afternoon @QalaatAlMudiq was back, although it was not clear if the backup account had also been brought back. The account is run by someone who claims to have a PhD in history and is a military analyst "focused on Syria, fact-checking and Geolocations." The account also covers technical military and tactical issues such as ATGMs and other types of missiles.

During the Syrian conflict, many social media accounts that rely on open-source information or have their own sources on the ground have become a key way that people report and learn about the complex conflict. This was especially true after 2013 and 2014 when foreign journalists were kidnapped and several, such as James Foley and Steven Sotloff, were murdered by ISIS. Some were disappeared like Austin Tice, and others targeted and killed by the Syrian regime, such as Marie Colvin.

Without people on the ground to report, many must rely on what they can find. This means key accounts like @QalattAlMudiq have become part of a small group, a kind of fraternity or sorority of accounts that make up the web of information connecting Syria to the world.

These types of accounts provide information on different areas of the beleaguered country. Because the conflict is deeply sectarian and also because it has its supporters in the West who take sides, mass reporting of various social media accounts by extremists linked to various regimes – whether the Syrian regime, Turkey or others – have sometimes led to respectable social media accounts being suspended or even deleted. For instance, Kurdish activist accounts are often targeted by Ankara's far-right AKP Party and its troll networks. And the Assad regime has its own networks.

Because social media giants are not regulated, there is no way to have an open archive of these accounts and their tweets and the information they provided, nor is there any documentation as to why some are suspended, reinstated or deleted altogether. The absolute power in the hands of social media giants and big tech means that with the click of a button, an account...