This report highlights and analyzes key trends and takeaways from data collected by the Hamilton 2.0 dashboard during the previous month. Unlike ASD’s weekly Hamilton reports, which analyze the main topics and themes promoted by monitored Russian and Chinese actors and entities, this report focuses on the specific Russian, Chinese, and Iranian accounts, outlets, and pieces of content that received the most engagement during the studied period. The report analyzes data collected on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and state-sponsored websites. A complete list of monitored accounts and outlets and the methodology behind the dashboard can be found on ASD’s methodology and FAQs page.    

Russia

Twitter Metrics

This section analyzes the top accounts affiliated with and outputs from Russian state media and diplomatic/government Twitter accounts in October 2022. Non-English Tweets are displayed in English using Microsoft’s Translator API. Engagement metrics are determined using Twitter’s public API and are up to date as of early November 2022.

In total, monitored Russian accounts posted 77,199 tweets in October. Those Tweets were retweeted and liked, respectively, 1,000,230 and 3,031,917 times. That is the first time Russian accounts have combined for more than 1 million retweets and 3 million likes since May. It marks a 10 percent increase in retweets and 7 percent increase in likes from September to October.

Most Retweeted Accounts

The following charts display the most retweeted Russian state media and Russian diplomatic/government accounts during the past month. Favorites and total tweets are also displayed.

Figure 1: The most retweeted and liked Russian state media (left) and diplomatic/government accounts (right) in October 2022.

Eight of the ten most influential Russian state media accounts in October earned more retweets than they did in September. Both Helena Villar, an RT en Español correspondent, and Wyatt Reed, a Sputnik correspondent, posted more tweets and generated more retweets and likes in October than any month since ASD began tracking their accounts in May. Villar’s likes jumped 75 percent from September to October. Reed more than doubled the number of retweets he earned month-over-month. Similarly, Sputnik Mundo generated more retweets than in any month since April. RT en Español, RT Arabic, and Tass all had more retweets in October than in any month since June. On the other hand, Redfish couldn’t maintain the level of engagement that it racked up in September when it posted a viral tweet thread that bashed the British monarchy after Queen Elizabeth II’s passing.

Like state media accounts, eight of the ten most popular diplomatic accounts had more retweets in October than in the previous month. Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, generated more retweets last month than in any month this year. The Spanish-language account for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs enjoyed more retweets and likes than any month since the war began in February. Month-over-month, that account’s retweets and likes jumped 88 percent and 55 percent respectively. Accounts for Russia’s embassies in the United Kingdom and Spain had more engagement in October than they’ve had since April.

Most Followers Gained

The following charts display the state media and diplomatic/government accounts with the largest change in followers from October 1 to October 30, 2022.

Figure 2: The Russian state media and diplomatic/government accounts with the largest change in followers in October 2022.

Seven of the ten fastest growing Russian state media accounts belonged to individual contributors in October. Sputnik correspondent Wyatt Reed’s account added the most followers. His most popular tweet mocked a statement by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan also saw a surge in followers, which seems to be the result of a popular tweet where she asked Elon Musk to remove constraints on Russian state media accounts. Sputnik host George Galloway also gained a significant number of followers, and he thanked Musk for that increase.

On the government side, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev posted only 15 tweets but gained more than 30,000 followers in October. Medvedev’s most retweeted post congratulated a head of lettuce for lasting longer than former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss’s final days in office. His second most retweeted post wished Elon Musk luck “in overcoming political bias and ideological dictatorship on Twitter.” Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs gained nearly 8,000 followers in October. That’s the most followers it has gained in any month since April.

Most Mentioned Countries

The following chart displays the countries most mentioned in Tweets during the past month. Special territories and regions (for example, Hong Kong and the EU) are included as individual entities in the country data. The chart aggregates all mentions of a country, including alternative country names, under that country’s official name (for example, mentions of US, USA, U.S., and America are all included in tabulations for the United States of America). 

Figure 3: The most mentioned countries in tweets from Russian state media (left) and diplomatic/government accounts (right) in October 2022.

Russia, Ukraine, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union remained the top five most mentioned countries by state media. The most mentioned countries by Russian diplomats also remained largely the same as the previous month, though China dropped from fifth in September to eighth in October. Both state media and diplomats mentioned Ukraine more in October than the previous month.  

Most Retweeted Accounts

The following charts display the accounts that have been retweeted most often by accounts monitored on the dashboard during the past month. The first chart displays the monitored accounts most retweeted by other monitored accounts (for example, a diplomatic account retweeted by other diplomatic and state media accounts). The second chart displays the non-monitored accounts most retweeted by monitored accounts (for example, an independent media outlet or unaffiliated individual retweeted by diplomatic and state media accounts). Occasionally, accounts that should be monitored by the dashboard appear in the non-monitored retweet list, either because those accounts are new or because they were not previously identified. Those accounts are subsequently added to the relevant Hamilton account list.

Figure 4: Monitored Russian media and diplomatic/government accounts most retweeted by other monitored Russian media and diplomatic/government accounts in October 2022.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs remained the most retweeted account by Russian state media and diplomats, but monitored accounts amplified the ministry far less in October than in September. Retweets of the ministry dropped by 37 percent month over month. On the other hand, Sputnik host George Galloway was retweeted more often than other any month since ASD began monitoring his account. His retweets jumped by 57 percent from September to October. State media accounts made up eight of the 20 most retweeted accounts on the list—an increase of five over the previous month.   

Figure 5: Non-monitored accounts most retweeted by monitored Russian media and diplomatic/government accounts in October 2022.

Sepa Más and RT India appear at this top of this list, but both are Russian state media accounts that were recently created and added to the catalog of ASD monitored accounts. With that caveat in mind, Kim Dotcom was the second most retweeted account by Russian propagandists. State media seized on a Kim Dotcom post that claimed the United Kingdom blew up the Nord Stream pipelines with help from the United States. Elon Musk was the third most retweeted account. State media amplified a range of Musk’s tweets, including one where he called the New York Times fake news. Diplomats and state media also lifted up tweets by Aaron Maté, who is a contributor to The Grayzone, a far-left site that often shares commentary in line with Russian talking points. The Grayzone’s founder Max Blumenthal was also on the list of the most retweeted accounts.

Most Retweeted Tweets

The following charts display the Tweets made by monitored accounts that have received the most retweets during the previous month. Non-English Tweets are displayed in English using Microsoft’s Translator API.  

Figure 6: The most retweeted tweets from Russian state media accounts in October 2022.

Two state media contributors sent all five of the most retweeted posts by Kremlin-linked media accounts. RT en Español correspondent Helena Villar’s post calling into question Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine received the most retweets. Sputnik correspondent Wyatt Reed had three of the most retweeted posts. One of those tweets mocked Western media for comparing Putin and several other dictators to Adolf Hitler.  

Figure 7: The most retweeted tweets from Russian diplomatic/government accounts in October 2022.

Dmitry Medvedev’s tweet making fun of former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss was the most retweeted post by a Russian official in October. The second and third most retweeted posts sought to undermine the legitimacy of Western press. Another top diplomatic tweet showcased cars driving over the Crimean bridge, which had been bombed earlier in the month.       

Facebook Metrics

This section provides a summary analysis of Russian state media and diplomatic/government Pages on Facebook during the previous month. Data is sourced from CrowdTangle, a Facebook-owned data analysis tool that provides insights into public content posted to Facebook.

Most Interactions

The following chart displays the Russian state media and diplomatic/government Pages on Facebook with the most interactions (reactions, comments, and shares) during the previous month. Though sorted by interactions, the chart also displays the average number of posts per day, page followers, and interaction rates (a calculation of total interactions divided by the number of posts and the number of followers of a Page), all of which are important metrics to contextualize the results.

Figure 8: Russian state media pages with the most total interactions on Facebook in October 2022.

RT Arabic continued to generate more interactions than any other state media page on Facebook, but it lost month-over-month interactions for the sixth time in ten months. It earned fewer interactions in October than any other month in 2022. RT also lost month-over-month interactions, which is a continuation of a strange trend where the page loses followers one month and gains them the next. Sputnik Serbia lost interactions for the first time since August and Ahí les Va lost interactions for the first time since May. On the other hand, Sputnik France, which was largely dormant from April through July, continued to rebuild its audience, gaining engagements for the fourth month in a row. It had its best month since the war began in February. Sputnik Mundo saw interactions increase for the third month straight. And RT Online’s October interactions were 48 percent higher than its August interactions.   

Figure 9: Russian diplomatic pages with the most total interactions on Facebook in October 2022.

The average total interactions with monitored Russian diplomatic pages was higher in October than in any month since May. Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs gained interactions for the third month in a row. That page experienced its best month since May. Russia’s Embassy in Ethiopia had more interactions in October than any month since March, and Russia’s embassies in Bangladesh and Greece put up their best interaction numbers since July. The embassies for Japan, Vietnam, and Indonesia also made month-over-month gains. On the other hand, Russia’s Embassy in London lost interactions for the second month straight.    

Pages with the Largest Percentage Growth in Followers

The following chart displays the Russian state media and diplomatic/government Pages with the largest percentage growth in followers during the previous month.

Figure 10: Russian state media pages with the largest percentage growth in followers on Facebook in October 2022.

Only seven out of 62 monitored Russian state media Facebook pages gained followers in October. Ahí les Va continued to add followers faster than any other page. However, its growth slowed last month. It gained more than 24,000 followers in September but only around 18,000 in October. No other state media page saw significant growth. RT Arabic, which gained more interactions than any other page in October, lost more than 226,000 followers, which is an unprecedented drop. RT Online, the fourth most influential page in October, lost followers for the seventh month in a row. Oddly, Sputnik France lost nearly 2,000 followers in October—more than any other month this year—despite having more interactions than any month since the war began.

Figure 11: Russian diplomatic and government pages with the largest percentage growth in followers on Facebook in October 2022.

Twenty seven of 46 monitored diplomatic pages gained followers in October. Russia’s Embassy in Bangladesh added 5,290 followers, which represented a 5.8 percent increase for the page. Russia’s Embassy in Afghanistan grew its follower count by more than 11 percent in October. The Embassy in Vietnam likewise enjoyed a significant increase in followers. On the other hand, pages for Russia’s embassies in the United States and the United Kingdom added the lowest number of followers in any month this year. And Russia’s Embassy in Indonesia, which was the eighth most influential diplomatic page last month, saw its followers drop for the sixth straight month.   

Most Commented Posts (By Total Interactions)

The following posts received the most comments on Russian state media and Russian diplomatic/government Facebook Pages during the previous month. Posts are segmented by all Russian state media pages, Russian state media Pages specifically targeting audiences in the United States, and Russian diplomatic/government Pages.

Figure 12: The top two most commented posts on Russian state media Pages in October 2022.

For the third month in a row, Ahí les Va had the two most popular posts. The top post mocked Western complaints about Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) decision to produce less oil. The second post said that BRICS—an economic group that includes Russia—was set to expand and to reduce the influence of the G7 on the world stage. 

Figure 13: The top two most commented posts on Russian diplomatic/government Pages in October 2022.

Russia’s Embassy in Bangladesh sent the two most popular diplomatic Facebook posts. The top post was a cartoon that depicted the United States as a force that would stoke the war in Ukraine and exhaust the EU’s economy. The second post included an image initially tweeted by Sputnik correspondent Wyatt Reed, which mocked a statement by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.  

China

Twitter Metrics

This section analyzes the top accounts affiliated with and outputs from Chinese state media and diplomatic/government Twitter accounts in October 2022. Non-English Tweets are displayed in English using Microsoft’s Translator API. Engagement metrics are determined using Twitter’s public API and are up to date as of early October 2022.

In total, monitored Chinese accounts posted 76,211 tweets in October. Those Tweets were retweeted and liked, respectively, 514,771 and 2,064,214 times during the month. Those numbers were largely consistent with September’s. Total tweets and retweets were down slightly, while likes were up slightly, with that slight increase largely attributable to a single tweet from the Chinese Embassy in Brazil.

Most Retweeted Accounts

The following charts display the most retweeted Chinese state media and Chinese diplomatic/government accounts during the past month. Favorites and total tweets are also displayed.

Figure 14: The most retweeted and liked Chinese state media (left) and diplomatic/government accounts (right) in October 2022.

The list of the most influential Chinese diplomatic and state media Twitter accounts remained largely consistent between September and October. CGTN Africa made its first appearance in the top 10 since at least May 2022. While its presence attests to some degree of success from CGTN’s regional affiliates in the Global South, that assessment must be tempered by the fact that CGTN Africa posts a high volume of tweets that generate relatively modest engagement. The other media outlet in the top 10 with more than 2,000 tweets in October, China Daily, generated almost ten time more retweets and likes over the month.

On the diplomatic side, the top ten accounts remained largely unchanged from the previous month, with Zhang Meifang, the consul general in Belfast, topping the chart for the sixth straight month. Two new additions to October’s top ten diplomatic account list were the accounts affiliated with the Chinese Embassy in Brazil and the Chinese ambassador to ASEAN. Both accounts derived an overwhelming proportion of their engagement from a single tweet. The Chinese Embassy in Brazil’s congratulatory message to President-elect Lula da Silva was the second highest-performing tweet posted by a Chinese diplomat over the past two years. That tweet alone accounted for more than two-thirds of the embassy’s monthly retweets and likes. Similarly, a picture posted by the ambassador to ASEAN accusing the United States of feigning concerns for Xinjiang’s Muslims generated more than half of that account’s retweets and likes in October.

Most Followers Gained

The following charts display the state media and diplomatic/government accounts with the largest change in followers from October 1 to October 30, 2022. 

Figure 15: The Chinese state media and diplomatic/government accounts with the largest change in followers in October 2022.

On the state media side, Hu Xijin and Chen Weihua, two personalities that frequently play a large role in disseminating Chinese narratives on Twitter, saw their follower count grow by 14,051 and 1,430 followers, respectively. Those numbers pale in comparison to August’s, when Hu Xijin gained 30,000 new followers and Chen Weihua gained 3,712. However, October’s numbers were still significantly higher than September’s, when Hu Xijin and Chen Weihua only gained 803 and 410 new followers respectively. CGTN Africa was the seventh fastest growing Chinese state media account in October and Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV continued a months-long trend of rapid follower growth.

On the diplomatic side, the accounts that gained the most followers in October were almost exactly the same, and in the same order, as in September. However, the ten fastest growing Chinese diplomatic accounts in October gained 170 percent as many followers as the ten fastest growing accounts did in September. The only new diplomatic account to join the top ten in October was the Chinese ambassador to ASEAN.

Most Mentioned Countries

The following chart displays the countries most mentioned in tweets during the past month. Special territories and regions (for example, Hong Kong and the EU) are included as individual entities in the country data. The chart aggregates all mentions of a country, including alternative country names, under that country’s official name (for example, mentions of US, USA, U.S., and America are all included in tabulations for the United States of America).

Figure 16: The most mentioned countries in tweets from Chinese state media (left) and diplomatic/government accounts (right) in October 2022.

With the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) taking up much of Chinese state media and diplomats’ attention, especially in the second half of October, mentions of China dwarfed all other countries. In October, monitored Chinese accounts mentioned China about five times more than the United States; in September, Chinese diplomats and state media’s tweets mentioned China about three times more than the United States. Mentions of Taiwan were down almost 40 percent in October compared to September, and Japan went from being the sixth most mentioned country by Chinese state media in September to falling out of the top ten entirely in October. The presidential election in Brazil resulted in significantly more attention being devoted to the Latin American country than usual. And while state media mentioned Brazil far more than Chinese diplomats did, the Chinese Embassy in Brazil generated significant engagement with relatively few tweets.

Most Retweeted Accounts

The following charts display the accounts that have been retweeted most often by accounts monitored on the dashboard during the past month. The first chart displays the monitored accounts most retweeted by other monitored accounts (for example, a diplomatic account retweeted by other diplomatic and state media accounts). The second chart displays the non-monitored accounts most retweeted by monitored accounts (for example, an independent media outlet or unaffiliated individual retweeted by diplomatic and state media accounts). Occasionally, accounts that should be monitored by the dashboard appear in the non-monitored retweet list, either because those accounts are new or were not previously identified. Those accounts are subsequently added to the relevant Hamilton account list.

Figure 17: Monitored Chinese media and diplomatic/government accounts most retweeted by other monitored Chinese media and diplomatic/government accounts in October 2022.

The 20 Chinese diplomats and state media entities most retweeted by monitored Chinese accounts were largely consistent with the most retweeted Chinese accounts overall. The most retweeted state media accounts were also largely unchanged from previous months.

On the diplomatic side, for the fifth month running, the consul general in Belfast remained the most retweeted account, most likely owing to the extraordinarily high amount of content she puts out and her tendency to retweet her own posts. Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Hua Chunying remained the second most retweeted account, and her account was retweeted almost 30 percent more in October than it was in September. 

Figure 18: Non-monitored accounts most retweeted by monitored Chinese media and diplomatic/government accounts in October 2022.

The non-monitored accounts most retweeted by Chinese diplomats and state media accounts in October were largely consistent with findings from previous months. Of the pro-CCP Western validators whose voices are consistently amplified by state media and Chinese officials, New Zealander Andy Boreham and Frenchman Arnaud Bertrand were once again among the most retweeted accounts. Irish Member of European Parliament Mick Wallace also gained a few spots in the ranking, with his comments accusing the EU of deliberately prolonging the Russian war in Ukraine amplified by several Chinese diplomats.

Most Retweeted Tweets

The following charts display the Tweets made by monitored accounts that have received the most retweets during the previous month. Non-English Tweets are displayed in English using Microsoft’s Translator API.

Figure 19: The most retweeted tweets from Chinese state media accounts in October 2022.

The top two tweets from Chinese state media accounts in October were authored by particularly combative personalities Chen Hua from China Daily and Hu Xijin from the Global Times. Hu’s tweet was one of several instances of Chinese accounts standing behind US billionaire Elon Musk’s widely criticized proposals for a quick solution to the war in Ukraine. China Daily’s amplification of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić’s accusation that the United States urged Hungary to invade Serbia in 1999 is the latest in a growing series of occasions in which Vučić is featured in Beijing’s propaganda. 

Figure 20: The most retweeted tweets from Chinese diplomatic/government accounts in October 2022.

Apart from the congratulatory message from the Chinese Embassy in Brazil, the other four top performing tweets from diplomats were all critical of the United States and their allies. The consul general in Belfast authored three of the five top performing tweets, including one that accused the United States of being behind the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage.

Facebook Metrics

This section provides a summary analysis of Russian state media and diplomatic/government Pages on Facebook during the previous month. Data is sourced from CrowdTangle, a Facebook-owned data analysis tool that provides insights into public content posted to Facebook.

Most Interactions

The following chart displays the Chinese state media and diplomatic/government Pages on Facebook with the most interactions (reactions, comments, and shares) during the previous month. Though sorted by interactions, the chart also displays the average number of posts per day, page followers, and interaction rates (a calculation of total interactions divided by the number of posts and the number of followers of a Page), all of which are important metrics to contextualize the results.

Figure 21: Chinese state media pages with the most total interactions on Facebook in October 2022.

Average total interactions with Chinese state media pages on Facebook declined 20 percent from their September values, after an almost 30 percent decline between August and September. The five most interacted with media pages were exactly the same in October as they were the previous month. However, the Global Times was the only one of those five pages to generate more interactions month over month. Outside of English-language content, CGTN Arabic continued its momentous drop, having lost almost 75 percent of its monthly interactions from its July high. CGTN Europe fell out of the top ten entirely, while CGTN Français surged and CGTN Español remained largely stable between September and October.

Figure 22: Chinese diplomatic pages with the most total interactions on Facebook in October 2022.

Chinese diplomatic accounts on Facebook saw an almost 15 percent drop in total interactions in October compared to September. The Chinese Consulate in Erbil, Iraq bucked that trend by increasing the number of interactions it generated in October by almost 40 percent. The Chinese Embassy in France also saw roughly 40 percent more interactions in October compared to September.

Pages with the Largest Percentage Growth in Followers

The following chart displays the Chinese state media and diplomatic/government Pages with the largest percentage growth in followers during the previous month.

Figure 23: Chinese state media pages with the largest percentage growth in followers on Facebook in October 2022.

Tracked Chinese state media pages gained new followers at a slightly slower pace in October compared to September. The People’s Daily overseas edition noticeably disappeared from the top ten pages with the largest percentage growth after gaining more than 1 million new followers in September. People’s Daily affiliates Beautiful China and China Science continued their rapid growth in absolute terms, gaining more followers than any other state media pages. State media personalities Guan Xin and Wang Guan also continued to grow their audience, with Guan Xin in particular drawing more than 100,000 new followers to her already prominent page.

Figure 24: Chinese diplomatic and government pages with the largest percentage growth in followers on Facebook in October 2022.

The Consulate in Erbil accelerated its suspicious growth, adding almost 500,000 followers to its page, meaning it now has roughly as many followers as there are inhabitants in the Iraqi city. The other notable data point was the personal page of the Chinese ambassador in the Philippines, which gained almost 5,000 new followers in October.

Most Commented Posts (By Total Interactions)

The following posts received the most comments on public Chinese state media and Chinese diplomatic/government Facebook Pages during the previous month. Posts are segmented by all Chinese state media pages, Chinese state media Pages specifically targeting audiences in the United States (for example, CGTN America), and Chinese diplomatic/government Pages.

Figure 25: The top two most commented posts on Chinese state media Pages in October 2022.

As has been the case since May, the two most popular posts by Chinese state media in October were clickbait-style videos that had the potential to go viral and capture audience share.

Figure 26: The top two most commented posts on Chinese diplomatic/government Pages in October 2022.

The top diplomatic posts were both from Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin and were odes to Chinese nationalism. The first was a straightforward congratulatory message marking National Day of the People’s Republic of China, while the other conveyed the purported success of CCP policies that have enabled China to regain its international standing.

YouTube Metrics

This section summarizes the outputs of video content uploaded to CGTN and CGTN America’s YouTube channels. In total, the dashboard collected 776 videos that garnered 3,109,078 views, 16,551 comments, and 76,872 likes (engagement metrics accurate as of early November).

Most Viewed Videos

The following chart displays the most viewed videos posted to CGTN and CGTN America’s YouTube channels over the previous month. Additional engagement metrics including likes, dislikes, and comments are also provided. Engagement metrics are accurate as of early September. 

Title

Outlet

Date

Views

Likes

Dislikes

Comments

Live: Special Coverage of the opening of 20th CPC National Congress

CGTN

10/15

1,199,972

1,225

 

96

At least 148 killed in Seoul crowd surge

CGTN America

10/29

97,875

423

 

331

How does the U.S. manipulate people overseas through social media? – Facts Tell

CGTN

10/1

65,625

4,223

 

726

Xi presents China’s Friendship Medal to Vietnam’s communist party chief Nguyen Phu Trong

CGTN

10/31

60,462

1,666

 

636

Survivor recalls horrific moment in Itaewon

CGTN

10/30

48,816

301

 

62

China’s homegrown C919 boasts ingenious interior design

CGTN

10/2

47,378

673

 

160

Expert: It is dangerous for US to raise tensions with China

CGTN

10/29

39,708

1,894

 

352

Chinese ‘flying car’ makes first public debut in Dubai

CGTN

10/13

23,319

497

 

43

Xi meets C919 aircraft project team, urges more breakthroughs in high-end equipment manufacturing

CGTN

10/2

22,654

655

 

93

Why is the US energy diplomacy a destabilizing factor for Europe? – Facts tell

CGTN

10/23

20,574

1,092

 

148

 

By far the most viewed Chinese state media video on YouTube in October was a more than 4 hour-long live report on the 20th National Congress. It generated more than ten times the views of the second most watched video, a dramatic compilation of videos shot by young people trapped in the deadly crowd surge that occurred in Seoul at the end of the month.

The United States was a recurring target of negative Chinese state media video coverage in October. From the US military’s supposed use of information warfare to manipulate global opinion, to the country’s alleged weaponization of energy prices to destabilize Europe, criticism of US foreign policy was oft featured in state media YouTube videos.

Most Mentioned Countries

The following chart displays the countries most mentioned in CGTN and CGTN America videos during the past month. Country data is extracted from titles and excerpts posted to each video on YouTube, meaning that countries that are referenced in a video segment but that do not appear in the description or title will not be included.

Special territories and regions (for example, Hong Kong and the EU) are included as individual entities in the country data. The chart aggregates all mentions of a country, including alternative country names, under that country’s official name (for example, mentions of US, USA, U.S., and America are all included in tabulations for the United States of America).

Figure 27: The most mentioned countries in CGTN (dark red) and CGTN America (pink) videos in October 2022.

As was the case on Twitter, Chinese state media focused on China more than usual in October. While the United States was covered a little over five times less than China in September, it was covered ten times less than China in October.

Coverage of the United Kingdom remained consistent with 32 videos in October to September’s 30 videos. The surprise resignation of Liz Truss, followed by the elevation of Rishi Sunak as the country’s first prime minister of Asian descent, garnered the most attention. Brazil was also regularly featured in Chinese state media YouTube videos in October, with CGTN America particularly active in sharing news about the country’s elections.

Top Categories

The following chart displays the news categories covered most often in CGTN and CGTN America YouTube videos during the previous month. Classification of videos is determined by a machine learning algorithm based on a list of pre-determined news categories. Videos can have multiple classifications or no classifications if the confidence score is below a certain threshold.

Figure 28: The top news categories for CGTN (dark red) and CGTN America (pink) in October 2022.

As has been the case since May, CGTN and CGTN America’s YouTube channels remained predominantly focused on geopolitical issues. This tendency was even more pronounced in September than it had been in October. In general, all topics seemed to take a backseat to coverage of the 20th National Congress.

Iran

Twitter Metrics

This section analyzes the top accounts affiliated with and outputs from Iranian state media and diplomatic/government Twitter accounts in October 2022. Non-English Tweets are displayed in English using Microsoft’s Translator API. Engagement metrics are determined using Twitter’s public API and are up to date as of early October 2022.

In total, monitored Iranian accounts posted 20,328 tweets in October. Those Tweets were retweeted and liked, respectively, 175,931 and 933,345 times during the month.

Most Retweeted Accounts

The following charts display the most retweeted Iranian state media and Iranian diplomatic/government accounts during the past month. Favorites and total tweets are also displayed.

Figure 29: The most retweeted and liked Iranian state media (left) and diplomatic/government accounts (right) in October 2022.

As usual, Press TV was the most retweeted Iranian media account. Marwa Osman and Chris Williamson, two hosts of Press TV’s “Palestine Declassified” program, continued to see increased engagement, occupying the second and third slots. Nearly all of Osman’s retweets came from a single thread enumerating past human rights violations committed by the United States. Williamson’s top tweet consisted of him complaining about an alleged shadowban that prevented users from finding his account through the search function.

Mohammad Farahani, editor-in-chief at the Mizan News Agency, also broke the top ten in October, mostly with Farsi-language tweets lamenting violence by protestors against security forces and disparaging the portrayal of the protestors as “peaceful.”

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as always, dominated all other government accounts in terms of engagement. His top tweets mostly criticized the protestors and accused them of violence and sedition. He explicitly denied that the protests are about the hijab, arguing that they are instead part of a foreign anti-regime conspiracy. In another tweet, he alluded to Iran’s sale of drones to Russia, teasing that “A few years ago, when photos of advanced missile and drone equipment were published, they said it was Photoshop. Now they say that Iranian drones are very dangerous.”

Most Followers Gained

The following charts display the state media and diplomatic/government accounts with the largest change in followers from October 1 to October 31, 2022.

Figure 30: The Iranian state media and diplomatic/government accounts with the largest change in followers in October 2022.

Media followership saw modest growth in October, with the greatest growth among media accounts affiliated with Palestine Declassified and one of its hosts, Marwa Osman. Producer David Miller also saw some growth; although, the most followed host, Chris Williamson, saw almost none at all. Mohammad Farahini, editor of Mizan, also saw significant growth.

Followership of government accounts also grew, with Khamenei’s Farsi account showing the greatest growth in absolute terms and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian’s account demonstrating the greatest relative growth.

Most Mentioned Countries

The following chart displays the countries most mentioned in tweets during the past month. Special territories and regions (for example, Hong Kong and the EU) are included as individual entities in the country data. The chart aggregates all mentions of a country, including alternative country names, under that country’s official name (for example, mentions of US, USA, U.S., and America are all included in tabulations for the United States of America).  

Figure 31: The most mentioned countries in tweets from Iranian state media (left) and diplomatic/government accounts (right) in October 2022.

The war in Ukraine continues to receive heavy coverage in Iranian media, with Russia and Ukraine receiving the third and fourth most mentions in October. This reflects in part the acknowledgment from some sources of Iran’s role as a supplier of drones and other military equipment to Russia, though the Foreign Ministry account denied that Iran has chosen a side. Coverage tends to be heavily pro-Russia. Government accounts referred to the war much less frequently.

Most Retweeted Accounts

The following charts display the accounts that have been retweeted most often by accounts monitored on the dashboard during the past month. The first chart displays the monitored accounts most retweeted by other monitored accounts (for example, a diplomatic account retweeted by other diplomatic and state media accounts). The second chart displays the non-monitored accounts most retweeted by monitored accounts (for example, an independent media outlet or unaffiliated individual retweeted by diplomatic and state media accounts). Occasionally, accounts that should be monitored by the dashboard appear in the non-monitored retweet list, either because those accounts are new or were not previously identified. Those accounts are subsequently added to the relevant Hamilton account list.

Figure 32: Monitored Iranian media and diplomatic/government accounts most retweeted by other monitored Iranian media and diplomatic/government accounts in October 2022.

The monitored accounts most retweeted by other monitored accounts included the Foreign Ministry and Khamenei himself, as well as some particularly active Spanish and Italian language diplomatic accounts.

Figure 33: Non-monitored accounts most retweeted by monitored Iranian media and diplomatic/government accounts in October 2022.

The non-monitored accounts most retweeted by monitored accounts included a number of cultural and media accounts, as well as accounts that cover the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Two anti-Western influencer accounts popular with Russian and Chinese officials—Mick Wallace and Tim Anderson—were also among the most retweeted accounts by monitored Iranian accounts.

Most Retweeted Tweets

The following charts display the tweets made by monitored accounts that have received the most retweets during the previous month. Non-English Tweets are displayed in English using Microsoft’s Translator API.

Figure 34: The most retweeted tweets from Iranian state media accounts in October 2022.

The most retweeted tweets from media accounts came from Press TV and Hamid Rasaee, a former politician and editor of Noh Dey Weekly. The common thread in each top tweet was criticism of the West, either directly or via whataboutist arguments deflecting criticism of Iran. The fourth most retweeted tweet from Press TV sought to dispute a viral image purporting to be of police violence against a protestor, which Press TV argued was simply an old picture (of police violence) against a common criminal.

Figure 35: The most retweeted tweets from Iranian diplomatic/government accounts in October 2022.

All of the top tweets from government accounts came from Khamenei’s Farsi-language account. Most criticized the protests and protestors and cast police and pro-regime militias as the victims of violence.

Facebook Metrics

Due to restrictions on Iranian state media and diplomatic Pages on Facebook, the few Iranian properties that exist on the platform receive negligible interactions. As a result, we did not conduct analysis of Iran’s Facebook performance.

YouTube Metrics

The Hamilton 2.0 Dashboard currently does not track any Iranian state media outlets on YouTube.

Explore the Hamilton 2.0 Dashboard. 

The views expressed in GMF publications and commentary are the views of the author alone.