'Anti-UAE campaigns’ are bot-driven noise, says Anwar Gargash

Dubai: Senior Emirati diplomat Dr Anwar Gargash dismissed rising online criticism of the UAE during a session at the World Government Summit in Dubai this week, dismissing much of it as artificial and inauthentic noise.

Dr Gargash, the Diplomatic Advisor to His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, told audiences that the recent surge of “anti-UAE rhetoric” across digital platforms is not representative of real views but appears to be driven largely by automated accounts and coordinated online campaigns.

“It’s important to separate the noise from reality,” Gargash said, adding that when you look beyond the flashpoint social media feeds, traditional conversations and diplomatic engagements tell a very different story about how the UAE is perceived.

He cited an example of how activity around one issue — Sudan — fluctuated suddenly and dramatically, implying the shifts did not reflect genuine shifts in public opinion but rather algorithm-driven campaigns moving from topic to topic.

“We were seeing around 45,000 hostile tweets a day on Sudan, and then suddenly Yemen became the issue and that number dropped to about 3,000. The same group simply moved on to another file,” said Dr Gargash.

Speaking at the summit, Gargash stressed that dismissing every criticism outright would be unwise, but that policymakers must be savvy about what’s real — and what’s noise.

“Our society is today not only multipolar but also digitally polarised; you will always find criticism,” he said, before adding that much of the online activity he’s seen falls into repetitive, bot-like patterns rather than substantive commentary.

Gargash used the platform to reframe the UAE’s response: rather than engage in reactive online battles, the country aims to reinforce its diplomatic and economic achievements — from the Abraham Accords to humanitarian efforts — as the more enduring measure of its global role.