Sudan war: X shuts down Hemedti and RSF commander accounts

Social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) has suspended the accounts of the commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Lt Gen Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo, as well as four other RSF field commanders, in a move that echoes earlier shut downs by Facebook and YouTube. Both warring parties in Sudan have used social media platforms extensively as a conduit for often unverifiable ‘information’, claims, and counter claims, since the outbreak of the current hostilities in April 2023.

Social media platform X suspended the official account of the RSF, the commander of the RSF Lt Gen Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo, and four other RSF field commanders on Friday, in a move similar to the removal by the platforms of Facebook and YouTube.

In addition to Hemeti, the suspension includes Ali Rizq Allah, known as “El Savannah”, Mahdi Rahmat Allah, known as “Jalha”, and Mohamed El Fateh, known as “Yajuj and Majuj”. Before them, the political advisor to the resigned commander of the RSF, Youssef Ezzat, was suspended.

Users who attempt to view the accounts encounter a blank screen that indicates that the X account has been suspended, the only explanation being that “X suspends accounts which violate the X Rules”.

A software expert told Radio Dabanga that the platforms on social media have strict controls, rules, and known standards, and accounts are not deleted unless they are violated or breached.

He said that the leaders of the RSF violated these rules with their publications and the display of video clips in which they promote violence and violate human rights, in addition to promoting hate speech. They promoted the violations they committed, which prove their legal condemnation and violation of the rules of social media platforms that classified them as a terrorist organisation.

He added: “It is true that the commander of the RSF did not publish clips that violate human rights, but his account was deleted because he is the head and leader of this group that was classified as a terrorist group.”

The software expert ruled out any talk of a political dimension in the decision to remove these accounts or dictation from any party, and said that no matter how many reports are filed on any account, they are worthless if they do not comply with the standards and rules governing the platforms. He said that there may not be any complaints either, but merely violating the rules and standards causes the management of these platforms to apply their rules and delete the account in question.

He pointed out that the Facebook platform has human staff who monitor and follow up, not relying on artificial intelligence tools.

According to X policies, the platform bans “terrorist organisations, violent extremist groups, perpetrators of violent attacks, or individuals promoting their illegal activities.”

A former X employee, who requested anonymity, says that that even before Elon Musk acquired the platform, the group would have fallen into a grey area for the platform, because the USA does not consider the RSF a terrorist organisation.

The former employee added: “X allowed some violent organisations on the platform,” for example, the Taliban had a X account even before they came to power in 2021.

In April 2023, Facebook removed the verification mark (blue badge) from the official RSF Facebook platform after the platform continued to publish misleading and inaccurate news about the course of the clashes between the Sudanese army and the RSF. Charlie Entison, head of fact-checking in Africa at Agence France-Presse, said that the RSF page was misleading and spread naive lies about the position of its forces in Khartoum, adding that the page team confused being an official platform with their desire to mobilise their forces on the ground.

For example, Facebook has two categories of offenders: Terrorism, organised hate, large-scale criminal activity, multi-victim violence, attempted violence, serial killings, and violent offending. The second category is violent non-state actors and entities inciting violence.