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Twitter Users Hijack Syria’s #SummerInSyria Campaign With Grisly War Images

1 minute read

A social media campaign from Syria’s state news agency asking people to share pictures of their summer has backfired as users instead share photos of the country’s bloody conflict.

The English-language wing of the agency asked users to “snap us your moments of summer” using the hashtag #SummerInSyria. But many users have been using the same hashtag to share photos of bomb-site wreckage and injured civilians from the country’s four-year-old civil war:

Even the U.S. Embassy in Syria got in on the action, posting a picture of a bombing to Twitter.

The conflict, which began in 2011 as President Bashar al-Assad brutally cracked down against pro-democracy demonstrations, has killed more than 210,000 people and displaced half the country’s population, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Syria in 1940: Crossroads of the Middle East During WWII

A view of Damascus, Syria, 1940.
A view of Damascus, Syria, 1940.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Raising the French flag at Aleppo, Syria, 1940.
Raising the French flag at Aleppo, Syria, 1940.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Women carry water containers on their heads as they lead mules along a road in a desert village near Damascus, Syria, 1940.
Women carry water containers on their heads as they lead mules along a road in a desert village near Damascus, Syria, 1940.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Members of the Bedouin "camel cavalry" near Damascus, Syria, 1940.
Members of the Bedouin "camel cavalry" near Damascus, Syria, 1940.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Street scene, Damascus, Syria, 1940.
Street scene, Damascus, Syria, 1940.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
View of the downtown area of Aleppo from atop the ramparts of the great citadel built in the 4th century B.C.
View of the downtown area of Aleppo from atop the ramparts of the great citadel built in the 4th century B.C.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
View from above Aleppo, Syria, 1940.
View from above Aleppo, Syria, 1940.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Soldiers urge a mule up the steps of the citadel at Aleppo, Syria, 1940.
Soldiers urge a mule up the steps of the citadel at Aleppo, Syria, 1940.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Scene in Aleppo, Syria, 1940.
Scene in Aleppo, Syria, 1940.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Inside the garrison of the French expeditionary force in the great citadel at Aleppo, Syria, 1940.
Inside the garrison of the French expeditionary force in the great citadel at Aleppo, Syria, 1940.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Street scene, Aleppo, 1940.
Street scene, Aleppo, 1940.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
A narrow street in downtown Aleppo, Syria, 1940.
A narrow street in downtown Aleppo, Syria, 1940.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
A Moroccan soldier of the French expeditionary force holds an officer's Arabian horse inside the great citadel at Aleppo, 1940.
A Moroccan soldier of the French expeditionary force holds an officer's Arabian horse inside the great citadel at Aleppo, 1940.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Engineers relax on the grounds of the great citadel, Aleppo, 1940.
Engineers relax on the grounds of the great citadel, Aleppo, 1940.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
French Foreign Legion soldiers at their outpost at Homs, Syria, 1940.
French Foreign Legion soldiers at their outpost at Homs, Syria, 1940.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
French Foreign Legion soldiers gather around newly erected tents as they set up their outpost near Homs, Syria, 1940.
French Foreign Legion soldiers gather around newly erected tents as they set up their outpost near Homs, Syria, 1940.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
South of Homs, men of the Tunisian infantry prepare to eat.
South of Homs, men of the Tunisian infantry prepare to eat.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Archaeological ruins with modern homes in background, Syria, 1940.
Archaeological ruins with modern homes in background, Syria, 1940.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
A family walks past the walled town and beehive-shaped homes of Tell Bisse, Syria, 1940.
A family walks past the walled town and beehive-shaped homes of Tell Bisse, Syria, 1940.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
View of the walled town of Tell Bisse, Syria, 1940.
View of the walled town of Tell Bisse, Syria, 1940.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Syrian children outside the walled town of Tell Bisse, Syria, 1940.
Syrian children outside the walled town of Tell Bisse, Syria, 1940.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Page spreads, LIFE magazine, May 20, 1940
LIFE magazine, May 20, 1940.LIFE Magazine
Page spreads, LIFE magazine, May 20, 1940
LIFE magazine, May 20, 1940.LIFE Magazine
Page spreads, LIFE magazine, May 20, 1940
LIFE magazine, May 20, 1940.LIFE Magazine
Page spreads, LIFE magazine, May 20, 1940
LIFE magazine, May 20, 1940.LIFE Magazine

 

 

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Write to Nolan Feeney at nolan.feeney@time.com