Pakistan’s most infamous Twitter troll

Farhan Virk is a household name in Pakistan’s Twittersphere. Considered by many to be a state-sponsored troll, he commands a Twitter army of more than 1,000 volunteers dedicated to spreading hyper-nationalist propaganda.

Investigative filmmaker Hasham Cheema joins this episode of The Take to detail the inner-workings of Virk’s methods, and how his command of the algorithm has affected Pakistan’s democracy.

In this episode:

Filmmaker of the AJ Witness film, Hasham Cheema.

For more:

War, Lies and Hashtags: Pakistan’s Twitter Battles by AJ Witness

The team:

Priyanka Tilve produced this episode with Malika Bilal, Ney Alvarez, Alexandra Locke, Dina Kesbeh, and Amy Walters. Alex Roldan is the sound designer. Natalia Aldana is the engagement producer. Stacey Samuel is The Take‘s executive producer, and Graelyn Brashear is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.

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