A “blank shot” by Blank Spot Biased "analysis" of sold-out reporters

Using accusations without facts or biased information obtained from convives against a certain target cannot be found in the guidebooks of journalism. The one who calls himself a journalist must be fair, impartial, professional and at least self-esteemed.

But these are obviously not the case for Blank Spot, a so-called “crowdfunded platform for long-form journalism” that involves sold-out journalists as its senior reporters.

We are going to expose the extremely biased motives in the ridiculous “analysis” by Blank Spot, which claims that Azerbaijan uses so-called “trolling factories” on social media.

The first look at this biased “analysis” reveals that the author (-s) is unaware or doesn’t have basic knowledge of patriotism. For him, defending your country against misinformation or slanders is trolling. To prove this, let’s explain what he sticks to for misinterpreting the social media solidarity of Azerbaijanis.

By the way, in international practice, at least 50,000-100,000 posts with a specific hashtag are necessary to drag the same hashtag on top trends on social media platforms, for instance, on Twitter. Using hashtags is essentially a way to group together conversations or content around a certain topic, making it easy for people to find content that interests them. Hashtags are most popular on Twitter, where Azerbaijanis are very actively engaged. And for claiming the existence of “fake accounts” and “bots” behind a high-running hashtag, at least 3 per cent of the overall number of users should be investigated, which makes 1,500-3,000, but not 40-50 users picked by "mega-brains" in Blank Spot.

#ArmenianVandalism

So, the Blank Spot “analysis” published on October 10 claims that the #ArmenianVandalism hashtag abnormally spawned on Twitter on September 27 due to massive publications by Azerbaijani users. The argument for such an increase, according to the “analysis”, was the attempt of Azerbaijanis to respond to the condemnation of the EU of Azerbaijan for the so-called “war crimes” through fake accounts. And this was allegedly coordinated from a “troll factory”. Let’s stop here and introduce realities to Blank Spot.

The “analysis” clearly demonstrates a one-sided approach without sourcing the significance of September 27 for Azerbaijanis. This day is outlined on the calendars in Azerbaijan as “Remembrance Day” which honours the memories of the Azerbaijani servicemen fallen to the Armenian offensive that led to the 44-day war in 2020. Nearly 3,000 servicemen of the Azerbaijani army were killed by the Armenian military in the counter-offensive operations that suppressed the enemy’s large-scale attack and paved the way for the liberation of the Azerbaijani lands from 30-year-long Armenian occupation. Almost all social media platforms, including Twitter, were inundated with publications of Azerbaijanis about the war, the valour of national heroes and of course, the Armenian vandalism. Losing about 3,000 compatriots in a war with Armenia could not go unnoticed by the Azerbaijanis, who, literally chorused the name of the country that killed them – Armenia, and the war that witnessed immense vandalism by the enemy – #ArmenianVandalism.

Azerbaijanis remember the martyrs of the 44-day war with Armenia annually on September 27 since 2021

Meanwhile, let’s not let one more moment go unnoticed, which downplays the seriousness and impartiality of the so-called “analysis”. The author confirms that they used “software” developed by a Twitter user - Bedig_A – for providing insight into what they are convinced to be state-run propaganda by Azerbaijan. We checked the developer’s account and could not find anything but publications instigating hatred toward Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis, as well as the Turkish people. So, “Bedig_A” is obviously obsessed with anti-Azerbaijan sentiments and it would be naivety to expect his “software” to dig out something in favour of Azerbaijan, although there are plenty of such facts and data.

Anti-Azerbaijani and anti-Turkish Twitter newsfeed of Bedig_A 

So, Blank Spot relied on its anti-Azerbaijan “hi-tech tool” to again blame Azerbaijanis for so-called propaganda on Twitter on October 5, when, according to its “analysis”, the same #ArmenianVandalism hashtags took the platform by storm. Nothing happens without a cause. We must again teach those sold-out journalists to read books about what they are doing or pretending to do.

On October 4, the next mass grave of Azerbaijanis was found in the once Armenia-occupied, now-liberated Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. The remains of at least 12 Azerbaijani servicemen, who fought in the First Karabakh War in 1991-1994, were discovered in the burial. Examinations revealed that they have been captured, tortured, had their hands and legs tied and finally murdered, moreover, their corpses were subject to vandalism. The murderers do not need any investigation to be identified – Azerbaijani servicemen were defending their lands against the Armenian invasion. That should be enough to portray the bloody hands behind this war crime.

A mass grave of Azerbaijanis was found in Karabakh on October 4, 2022

The revelation of the remains of the bodies of their compatriots stirred public angst among Azerbaijanis that ultimately led to demands for the condemnation of Armenia. To catch the attention, the demand should be specific so, the hashtag #ArmenianVandalism was pushed to top trends by Azerbaijani users on Twitter on October 4-5.

#NoPelosi

Blank Spot took US Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Armenia as its next stronghold to blame Azerbaijan for "trolling" which, in fact, was the renunciation of biased statements by Pelosi. The strong critics of the US Speaker by the Azerbaijani users of Twitter should be sought in her controversial statements against Azerbaijan in Armenia’s capital Yerevan. The #NoPelosi hashtag was the fruit of her crystal-clear support of Armenia just days after a bloody provocation staged namely by this country on the border with Azerbaijan on September 12. Surrounded and cherished by the Armenian government elite in Yerevan, she took the rostrum to voice discriminatory remarks about Azerbaijan, using even the name of the illegal separatist formation in the Karabakh region. That was, of course, unacceptable for Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijanis, who lost 80 servicemen while trying to suppress the Armenian armed provocation and sabotage on the state border from September 12-14.

Those who sacrifice their lives for the sovereignty of Motherland are regarded as heroes in Azerbaijan, any attempt, remark, or statement putting their valour in question has always sparked mass protests by the Azerbaijanis and this was the case during Pelosi’s contradictory speech, which labelled Azerbaijan, indirectly, the fallen servicemen of the national army as an aggressor. This could not go unnoticed, so, Pelosi was “bombed” with the #NoPelosi hashtag on Twitter during her stay in Armenia. The hashtag appeared on September 18 and gained momentum on September 19, when she played the final anti-Azerbaijan notes in Armenia and left the country. Pelosi’s adamant rhetoric against Azerbaijan was a reason for almost every Azerbaijani using Twitter to voice protest and prevent the country’s image from being distorted, as well as the international community from being misled. If Blank Spot is convinced that #NePelosi was generated by fake accounts and bots, but real people, it should once again question its “impartial reporting".

“Signs of bots”

Blanks Spot "analysis" joyfully presents their so-called “findings” to accuse Azerbaijan of holding bot groups on Twitter. What did they find? Generic usernames containing many numbers, tweeting during working hours, and increasing intensity of tweeting over messages in times of crisis and conflict.

Let’s explain why these “findings” are unrealistic. The numbers in usernames in Azerbaijan are part of common practice. Azerbaijani users prefer to use their date of birth, part of their phone numbers, and some other numbers remarkable for them to create usernames on social media because it helps them easily remember their social media name. As of, tweets during working hours, Blank Spot should have forgotten that a person can be hired as a social media manager by a certain company, meaning, he/she could be seen online from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm every day or at least five days a week. Who can manage to miss such an opportunity for keeping pace with top trends on his personal account alongside the corporate one, in particular, if they concern your country? Or if it is associated with a conflict that once existed in your country for thirty years, took the lives of more than 30,000 compatriots and displaced one million others. With this time opportunity and motivation, you can post hundreds of tweets in nine hours.

In the end, we would like to remind you that a troll is Internet slang for a person who intentionally tries to instigate conflict, hostility, or arguments in an online social community. In other words, a troll does what reporters on Blank Spot have been doing, for instance illegally travelling to the then-occupied Karabakh region of Azerbaijan in 2016, 2017, and 2019, and deliberately posting these visits on social media to instigate Azerbaijanis; keeping to use the former conflict and armed separatists in the territory of Azerbaijan as a topic for his biased reports, knowing that it could prompt a severe backlash from Azerbaijanis. Or stubbornly denying any affiliation with a troll factory funded by an Armenian lobby and special services, disguising it as a “soccer magazine”. So, it is time to decide, is it Blank Spot or a "blank shot" ...

Blank Spot reporter Rasmus Canbäck deliberately uses the "Nagorno-Karabakh" and "local people of Nagorno-Karabakh" terms, which are unacceptable in Azerbaijan, on social media to instigate Azerbaijanis