Arabi Facts Hub
is a nonprofit organization dedicated to research mis/disinformation in the Arabic content on the Internet and provide innovative solutions to detect and identify it.
Online Reverberations of Violence Against Women in Egypt... The Case of the Mansoura Student
Dec. 22, 2022 | AFH
This is part of a series of investigative reports published in collaboration with Daraj media
The issue of violence against women in Egypt is no longer confined to real life situations. Rather it has extended to the realm of virtual space, where crowds across social media platforms are working on offering alternative narratives in an attempt to rationalize and justify these recurring crimes.
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These justifications always existed, but what the Arabi Facts Hub has uncovered this time affirms that the effort has become more organized through campaigns attempting to absolve the perpetrators or find excuses for them. This was glaringly evident in the case of the murder of Mansoura University student Nayera Ashraf.
Nayera's murder was followed by a disturbing pattern of similar crimes. Amani El Naggar fell victim to a gunshot, inflicted by her neighbor in what has become known as the "Menoufia student" case. Equally distressing was the murder of Salma Mohamed Bahgat, who was stabbed and slaughtered by a fellow student at the Faculty of Media, referred to in the media as the "East Delta Girl". This is in addition to the murder of an Egyptian girl by her fiancé in Port Said.
Nayera Ashraf, how organized campaigns found excuses for her murderer?
On 20 June, 2022, Mansoura University student Nayera Ashraf was fatally stabbed by Mohamed Adel, on the university campus. The incident sent shockwaves through Egyptian society, prompting an unusually swift legal process. The first court hearing took place within a week. The case was then shortly referred to the Grand Mufti for an advisory opinion on capital punishment. A verdict was reached on July 6 and Adel was sentenced to death by hanging.
The entire process, from the occurrence of the incident to the pronouncement of the verdict, took 26 days. During this short timeframe, online campaigns emerged, spanning various platforms and social networks, actively promoting a narrative divergent from the prevailing sentiment which was spontaneously on the side of the victim.
Since the referral of the accused's case to the Grand Mufti on 28 June, various open and closed groups advocating for Mohamed Adel have emerged on Facebook under different names. These groups have expanded their presence to platforms such as TikTok and Twitter. Within these groups, the process of electronic mobilization is organized before spreading to other platforms through specific hashtags in both Arabic and English.
At Arabi Hub Facts, we observed this coordinated unspontaneous activity. We noted peak periods through accounts that mostly appear to be owned by real individuals, although some are recently created. Additionally, we observed evidence linking the activity to developments in the case.
Context: the execution of the death sentence on Mohamed Adel is legally suspended until his appeal is heard before the Court of Cassation on 26 January, 2022. This follows the death of his lawyer, Farid El Deeb, on 25 October, 2022, as stated by Ashraf Nabil, also appointed by Adel’s family to defend him.
Open and Closed Groups on Facebook
We have observed at least 7 active groups promoting a counter narrative counter which serves the defendant's interest. These groups coordinate their electronic campaigns in an organized and synchronized manner, strategically timing their activities to garner attention on social media platforms.
| Date of creation | Public/Private | Number of members | Group name |
| 29 June 2022 | Private | 18,000 | Mohamed Adel Nayera’s Murderer The First Victim in the Case (later closed) |
| 20 June 2022 | Private | 12,900 | Mohamed Adel is a victim |
| 30 June 2022 | Public | 8,700 | No to the execution of Mohamed Adel (later closed) |
| 1 July 2022 | Was public now private | 5,900 | Injustice against Mohamed Adel, Nayera Ashraf’s murderer, reducing the sentence |
| 1 July 2022 | Public | 6,300 | The voice of public opinion is stronger than any words (On 15 August, the group’s name changed to “Mohamed Adel Nayera’s Murderer The First Victim in the Case”) |
| 2 July 2022 | Private | 8,700 | We are all with Mohamed Adel the victim of bullying (later closed) |
| 7 July 2022 | Was public and now private | 2,400 | Mohamed Adel the victim of oppression and injustice |
| July 2022 | Private | 6,200 | Mohamed is not a murderer, Mohamed was the victim of exploitation |
| 11 July 2022 | Private | 17,000 | We are all Mohamed Adel |
On June 29, Facebook recorded the appearance of one of the first and most prominent groups named “Mohammed Adel Nayera’s murderer, the first victim in the case,” before closing it later.
As of 25 July, the group had more than 3.5 thousand posts since its launch. At that time, it included more than 18 thousand people in its membership, and it is managed by 8 accounts and pages, at least 3 of which are owned by one person, named Rami Catalan, who founded this group. Rami identified one of these pages as the “Social Media Agency”.
On 17 July, someone called Ramy came out in a live audio on Facebook (since removed), saying that the group is now closed/private for security reasons. He stated, "The group is now private (...) because that is safer for us." Limited information is available about Ramy, but it seems that he is an Egyptian resident from Upper Egypt. This can be deduced from the content of his most followed pages, including those related to Minya governorate and Abu Qurqas, a central Minya city. It is worth noting that his accent in the audio does suggest that he is from the south.
According to the Bio “the group is to support Mohamed Adel by exposing the lies and false accusations of Nayera’s family, and not for incitement." Members were then directed to the backup group “The voice of public opinion is stronger than any words”, which was initially called “the backup group” when it was established by Ramy El Cataloni on 1 July.
On 15 August, the second group was changed from "The voice of public opinion is stronger than any words" was changed to the larger group “Mohamed Adel the murderer of Nayera is the first victim in the case." The group then transitioned from being a public group to a private one.
Group names are sometimes changed by owners, but every group has an identifying number at establishment which is similar to a personal identification number. We have saved the link and identifying number of the group.
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/1338614929882350/about).
It is worth mentioning that Mohamed Adel’s lawyer, Ahmed Hamad, who previously worked with well-known lawyer Farid El Deeb, is a member in this group, as well as other related groups which work on building a counter narrative.
Common group admins
While the majority of those backing the counter narrative were members in Ramy El Cataloni’s group, it is interesting to note that some sought to compete and attract more attention by creating other groups with the same discourse. Notably, not only is the discourse similar, but a significant number of those promoting it are active across the same groups, and their roles vary depending on when they joined these groups. For instance, we noticed an account that bears the name Nesrine Hussein, a Syrian residing in the coastal city of Tartous. She is an active member of the groups "No to the Execution of Mohamed Adel” (since closed) and "The Voice of Public Opinion is Stronger than Words." However, she also holds an administrative role in groups such as "Injustice against Mohamed Adel, Nayera’s Murderer, Reduce the Sentence," which was initially public but then became private.
Through her personal account, Nesrine expresses admiration for the Alawites and follows pages featuring both light news and political content in support of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.
It is also possible that she is member of a fourth group, Ramy El Cataloni’s mother group according to a post she wrote in “the alternative group” the last sentence of which reads:
Similarly, an account with the name Marilyn Monroe in Arabic is a member in Nesrine Hussein's groups "No to the Execution of Mohamed Adel," "Injustice against Mohamed Adel Nayera’s Murderer, Reduce the Sentence," and "The Voice of Public Opinion is Stronger than Words."
From Facebook groups to Twitter
While tracking the hashtag #Mohamed_Adel_Victim_Not_Criminal as it first appeared on Twitter on the evening of 1 July, we wondered if there were launching points from Facebook. On discovering the aforementioned groups, we searched them for the word Twitter to confirm whether there was a correlation and simultaneous launch of the hashtag between the two social media platforms. There were indeed posts in the group "The Voice of Public Opinion is Stronger than Words" that preceded the hashtag's appearance on Twitter.
Shortly before the publishing of these posts, one of the first tweets on the Twitter hashtag was published by an account that bears the name Nesrine.
The account "Nesrine" was created on 1 July and has tweeted over two thousand times, always adopting the counter narrative supporting Mohamed Adel. While information about the account owner is limited, the use of levantine terms in tweets was notable. This made us suspect that the account was owned by the same Syrian Nesrine Hussein who joined Ramy El Cataloni’s public Facebook group on the same day. Moreover, there were four accounts named Nesrine in the "The Voice of Public Opinion is Stronger than Words" group, the oldest of which belonged to the Syrian Nesrine Hussein, while another account belonged to an Egyptian living in Alexandria.
We also observed that the Nesrine shares links redirecting to the larger private Facebook group created by El Cataloni "Mohamed Adel, Nayera’s murderer, the first victim in the case". This strongly indicates this is the same Syrian account, which - as shown in the image below - attempts to promote the group and amplify the hashtag on Facebook and Twitter.
El Cataloni acted similarly, inciting the members of his public and private groups to tweet and spread the campaign’s hashtags. On 5 July, he created an account on Twitter.
The illustration below, from the SNA – InVID tool, shows the periods of activity of the hashtag #Mohamed_Adel_Victim_Not_Criminal, which stirred controversy in Egypt in early July of the past year. Its initial peak occurred from the 15th to the 18th of July, with the highest peak on 8 August. It then reappeared with moderate spread on 2 November.
Until mid-November, there were 6845 tweets, 8196 retweets, and 25247 likes. It's noteworthy how the retweet ratio surpasses the number of original tweets. The majority of retweets came from Egypt and Saudi Arabia, according to the Keyhole tool.
A screenshot from the SNA – InVID tool illustrates the periods of activity of the hashtag #Mohamed_Adel_Victim_Not_Criminal.
Accounts
Many of the accounts participating in the hashtag were established in the early days of July. The indicators do not strongly imply that the majority of these accounts are fake accounts, even though the usernames may seem arbitrary or suggested by Twitter at account creation. The most likely explanation is that these are new users who migrated from Facebook groups in response to mobilization calls. An illustrative example is the username of the account "Nesrine." A significant proportion of these accounts feature images of Mohamed Adel, while it is uncommon to find personal photos used as the profile picture of these accounts. In addition to Ramy El Cataloni and Nesrine there were other prominent accounts on the hashtag.
A screenshot from the Keyhole tool provides insights into the prominent accounts that played an influential role on the hashtag #Mohamed_Adel_Victim_Not_Criminal. One notable account is @Wafaa86, consistently and actively contributing to the hashtag on a daily basis. The account's founder, based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, created it in October 2020. Wafaa has shared a significant portion of the hashtag's tweets, totaling 2526.
A review of Wafaa's tweet history reveals a diverse range of content, from tweets about tennis and renowned player Roger Federer to images from Turkish series. Furthermore, the account owner appears to be a supporter of the Saudi Al-Ittihad Club and has humorously defended "El Basha Mortada" Mansour in a previous tweet.
Wafaa El Rashid is also a member of Ramy El Cataloni’s public group, but how do we know that?
This insight was uncovered during our analysis of Wafaa's Twitter activity using the Social Bearing tool. All the images used by accounts associated with El Cataloni’s group feature the actor Mohamed Ragab from the 2020 series "Darbet Me’allem". This image was shared in one of Wafaa's tweets, accompanied by the caption: "Ramy, the admin of our Facebook group, in an interview with Wael Shatta on YouTube."
There are 9 accounts with the name Wafaa in El Cataloni’s group, but the only account that identified itself as residing in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is this account "Wafa RF." When we tracked the account last July, what caught our attention was that its profile picture featured the former Saudi Al-Ittihad Club player, Mohammed Noor, lifting the AFC Champions League trophy in 2004. The account also expressed admiration for pages, including one dedicated to tennis player Roger Federer, aligning with its Twitter content. Additionally, it follows other pages, such as the page of Ahmed Hammad, Mohammed Adel’s lawyer.
Wafaa's first interactions on Twitter date back to 2013, which is uncommon considering that Twitter is less popular than other platforms like Facebook in Saudi Arabia.
14 million views on TikTok
The TikTok application in Egypt is known for its light-hearted content in the form of video clips, primarily by teenagers, youth, and professional content creators. The case of the murder of Nayera, a Mansoura University student, might be the first serious social issue to trigger an organized campaign that aims at challenging the prevailing narrative about the girl’s murderer. The exception to this was the case of the "TikTok girls" in 2020, some of whom were given prison sentences, while others were released after accusations of “human trafficking” and threatening "Egyptian family values."
Context: Figures from ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, indicate that the number of TikTok users in Egypt had reached 20.28 million users in early 2022, with ages ranging from 18 and above.
Data from TikTok shows that tweets under the hashtag #Mohamed_Adel_Victim_Not_Criminal garnered 13.9 million views from its appearance on July 2nd until mid-November 2022. According to the hashtag database obtained using the Apify tool, more than 120 video clips were shared using the hashtag, either to defend Nayera’s murderer or to comment on the case. These videos generated 11,150 comments and at least 7,163,302 likes.
At exactly 1:43 PM Greenwich (3:43 PM Egypt Time), the account @marwamohame39 posted the first tweet on the hashtag. Following that, the account shared 42 video clips before turning to private mode and restricting access to its content. The account was created in early July.
The account @meroali198 was the second to post, publishing a video on the hashtag at 6:10 PM Egypt Time. Just 3 minutes before this time, Mero posted a status on her Facebook account, urging her followers to participate by tweeting with a set of hashtags, including the hashtag #Mohamed_Adel_Victim_Not_Criminal.
Content.. “She posted her sister’s pictures because interactions had dwindled”
The promotion of the counter-narrative relied on various mechanisms to mobilize participants, whether through textual posts, images, videos, live broadcasts, audio content, or holding live meetings with claimed experts. The campaign also attracted those seeking the spotlight, including a filmmaker and chefs.
In addition to accounts indicating they were from various Arab countries such as Syria, Algeria, and Morocco. Participants in the campaign used hate speech to tarnish the victim by reposting personal photos of the girl and her family.
In a comment on one of the posts in the group "The Voice of Public Opinion is Stronger", a member asked the group's owner, Ramy El Cataloni, about the reason for removing her from the larger group. She stated, "Because I spoke the truth and told you not to post personal photos of her sisters (the victim), as it is inappropriate and violates people's privacy. Where is your credibility? Do you only accept what you like and ignore the rest?” Ramy's response was that he posted the photos "because interaction has dwindled, and the group is at risk, so that [people] enter and comment a lot. Besides, she has more photos on her own page which I didn't want to upload. Get off your moral high horse."
In summary
- Analysis of the public campaign and the hashtag #Mohamed_Adel_Victim_Not_Criminal reveals that reactions in defense of the person implicated in the murder of the Mansoura University student were not spontaneous but rather carefully organized.
- The campaign initially started on Facebook groups before gaining visibility and expanding its reach to platforms such as Twitter and TikTok.
- Participants active in the campaign include real people, some from other Arab countries.
- Hate speech and the deliberate tarnishing of the victim and her family played a substantial role in shaping the campaign's content.
- Notably, several active groups advocating for the accused underwent transformations—some were entirely closed, others altered their names, and some shifted from being public groups to private ones.
Tools used:
InVID Verification Plugin
Twitter Search
TweetDeck
Twitonomy
Apify
Twitterjoindate
Keyhole
Social Bearing
Unfurl
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