DRI monitored Libya’s social media landscape from December 2018 to October 2019 to better understand public discourse surrounding Libya’s political transformation.
Looking at Facebook, and to a lesser degree Twitter, we wanted to find out how ordinary Libyans discuss politics online, which articles and posts trigger their engagement, and which outlets produce the most content and receive the most attention. Additionally, we wanted to assess whether disinformation was being spread online — and, if so, what type of disinformation it was and who was spreading it.
This report presents our main findings from eleven months of social media monitoring. We identify the main narratives of online discourse and their key drivers, as well as the weaknesses of Libya’s social media landscape — and how to address them.