DRI is publishing its latest social media monitoring report that examines online discourse in Libya during the first four months of 2020. Our findings show a continuation of the trends we had previously noticed.
Other main findings from the report include:
- Security and conflict have remained a priority, we see a focus on personality-driven news relating to top-level developments in the conflict, as well as the continued dominance of voices sympathetic to Libyan general Khalifa Haftar.
- The Berlin Conference had a strong level of engagement in January, as per the previous report, but this substantially decreased in February and further still in March and April.
- Elections and the constitution have essentially faded into irrelevancy, with almost no discussion of note, in tandem with a barren landscape for related news.
- The Emirati-backed 218tv, along with the pro-Haftar news outlet Almarsad, remains a dominating outlet across the Libyan media ecosystem and commands a disproportionate percentage of the overall engagements across every category; despite this, there is no evidence to suggest a conscious effort to be a particularly divisive voice.
The arrival of covid-19 in March overtook all other considerations, dominating online discourse for the entire second half of the reporting period.
Download the PDF version of the report below.
