A Twitter hashtag in English, set up on 7 April and aimed at influencing Western opinion regarding alleged violence committed in Egypt by the Muslim Brotherhood group, has been widely trending in the country and the Middle East, reaching over 137,000 posts overnight. The timing of the hashtag "MB_Europe" comes a week after British Prime Minister David Cameron commissioned a review of the Muslim Brotherhood's "philosophy, activities and impact" on British national interests and the government's policy toward the movement. A range of well-known Egyptian TV presenters have been promoting the anti-Brotherhood campaign on their own Twitter accounts. For example, prominent TV presenter Lamis al-Hadidi (@lameesh), a staunch critic of ousted Islamist president Mohammad Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood on her talk show "Here is the Capital," wrote: "We need to send images and videos showing violence and terrorism by the MB to hashtag #MB_Europe. Our voice must be heard." TV presenter Amr Adib said on his official account (@amradib): "Thanks to all those who have been contributing to the hashtag overnight. We shall continue. Great work." Anti-MB users have been posting their comments on Twitter to official accounts of international media organizations and world leaders such as US President Barack Obama. User (@atefibraheem) warned "@BarackObama @BBCBreaking @TheTimes [of] MB_europe aiming at Egyptians, you never know if your people are next". The user tagged a photograph of armed men near what seemed to be a sit-in supporting ousted president Morsi in Cairo. Egyptian blogger "The Big Pharaoh" wrote on his account (@thebigpharaoh): "A trending hashtag in Egypt now by anti-MB Egyptians, trying to tell Europe how bad the MB is #mb_europe." Using the same hashtag, user (@TheSecular) said: "Islamic militancy was invented by Muslim Brothers. Jihad, fanaticism & religious racism are all synonymous to MB." In her tweet "Do you call this a peaceful protestor? His model is Bin Laden," a user called Malak Tahir (@drmalaktaher26) attached a photograph of an alleged MB supporter in a Cairo protest kissing the face of slain founder of the Al-Qaeda organization Osama Bin Laden. Liberal political activist Hazem Abdel-Azim (@Hazem_Azim) wrote: "Cancerous terrorist MBs are planning for a political party in the USA. Europe is under MB radar. Watch out!" Meanwhile, MB sympathizers – albeit few – used the same hashtag to counter the alleged documentations levelled against the movement. One user called (@truthcaller) posted a photograph of a man carrying a gun while standing beside a police officer. He wrote in English: "Below, they claim he is a Muslim Brotherhood but when you look at the full picture you'll see they are police thugs." Another user (@nilly_hanem) posted a picture allegedly showing a young Muslim Brotherhood member with signs of torture on his body, with a comment reading: "#mb_europe this is how they treat prisoners in military prisons." This is not the first time that MB supporters and opponents battle it out on the web. The practice has been common even before the military removed president Morsi from power in July last year.
