Blue tick Twitter account fakes Sudanese general Hemedti's death

A fake Twitter account for Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, sporting Twitter’s blue tick, posted a false announcement of RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo’s death on Friday.

"It is with great sadness that we, alongside the Sudanese People and the Rapid Support Forces, mourn the passing of Commander Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo," read the tweet, which came amid a mass removal and re-issuing of blue ticks for accounts by Twitter.

The tweet that said Hemedti had died after he "sustained injuries performing his duties with a military unit" received more than 1.7 million views before it was taken down.

Hemedti has since been tweeting from his existing account about his telephone conversation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.  

Discussed the current crisis with UN Secretary-General, @antonioguterres. Focused on the humanitarian truce, safe passages, and protecting humanitarian workers. Grateful for his dedication to Sudan's stability & eager for UN increased support.

— Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (@GeneralDagllo) April 21, 2023

Hundreds of people have been killed and millions have been left without access to water, electricity or food as the RSF and Sudanese de facto leader General Burhan’s army engage in fierce fighting that began on 15 April.

Reliable information from the street-bound gun battles taking place in Khartoum has been hard to come by. Much of it is gained from eyewitness accounts and the testimony of medics and NGO workers - as well as from contradictory statements made by parties to the conflict.

According to The Sudan Fact-Check Network project, Sudan was plagued by misinformation during the Burhan-led army coup of October 2021. 

At the time, various parties “exchanged a lot of misleading information and rumours that revolved around political and security issues” according to the network.

Twitter owner Elon Musk pledged last year to get rid of what he described as a "lords & peasants system" that verified certain users and awarded them a blue tick.

Users of the platform now have to pay $8 a month for the feature, in a move he said last year would "democratize journalism & empower the voice of the people".

The blue tick symbol used to mean that an account that had been verified by Twitter. It now means that the user has paid for the Twitter Blue service and provided their phone number.