Were Meghan Markle and Prince Harry the victims of racist trolls? Twitter claims the former royals were targeted with a coordinated hate campaign across social media channels
- An analysis of 114,000 tweets about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle revealed that just 83 accounts posted 70 per cent of hate content directed at the royal couple
- While many accounts were shut down by Twitter, some profiles described themselves as ‘parody’ to avoid detection, while others used ‘racist coded language’, according to the report
New data has revealed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were targeted with coordinated harassment on Twitter.
Bot Sentinel, a Twitter analysis service, launched an investigation that analysed 114,000 tweets about Prince Harry, 37, and Meghan Markle, 40, uncovering that a large majority of the attacks were aimed at the duchess.
In short, the majority of the anti-Meghan and Harry activity wasn’t organic
“We observed the primary accounts coordinating their activities and using various techniques to avoid detection,” the report said. “In short, the majority of the anti-Meghan and Harry activity wasn’t organic.”
Bot Sentinel discovered that the online hate directed at the couple came from a relatively small number of accounts. It identified 55 “primary hate accounts” and 28 “secondary hate accounts” that often amplified the primary account’s content.
“Combined with the help of their 187,631 followers, these accounts were responsible for around 70 per cent of the original and derivative hate content targeting Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Twitter,” the report stated.
The tweets could potentially reach 17 million Twitter users, the report continued.
Data found in the study noted that Twitter previously removed 40 per cent of the primary accounts and found that these accounts often used tactics to avoid suspension. Some accounts placed the word “parody” in their profiles, while others used “racist coded language” about Markle to avoid detection.