Of the 20 accounts discovered, at least 15 referenced Melnyk, all positivelyGETTY IMAGES
The OTTAWA CITIZEN, following its coverage of the Senators' Uber video incident, "found at least 20 contrived Twitter accounts, seemingly created to launch a coordinated disinformation campaign and to attack media coverage" of the Senators while "lauding the team" and Owner Eugene Melnyk, according to the CITIZEN's Fenton & Pilieci. At least seven of the accounts "went offline -- either deleted or having blocked their tweets from public view -- after questions about their authenticity were raised." The remaining accounts "stopped tweeting." The story about the Uber video "broke on Nov. 5," and of the accounts identified, "none of them had tweeted prior to Nov. 6." The accounts all "had only a few followers and all had sent only a few tweets each, almost exclusively regarding the Senators," using similar "messaging and language." Common themes of the tweets included a "false claim that Postmedia" -- which owns the Citizen and Ottawa Sun -- "had paid the Uber driver for the video and that Melnyk should be celebrated for saving the team and defending his players." Of the 20 accounts discovered, "at least 15 referenced Melnyk, all positively." The Citizen has been "unable to trace any of the accounts back to real people, nor has it been able to find the source, or sources, of the accounts" (OTTAWA CITIZEN, 11/17).
