Experts say the rumors circulating on Twitter this week of a failed coup in Qatar bore the hallmarks of an online disinformation campaign linked to the oil-rich peninsula’s regional rivals.
On Monday, an apparently doctored video made the rounds on Twitter suggesting guns were fired in the coastal city of Wakrah amid a coup attempt aimed at the royal family. Fahd bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah, the Qatari ambassador to Russia, told the Tass News Agency the videos were “fabricated.”