'Gravely concerning' claims of Russian interference in general election to spread support for Farage's Reform
'Gravely concerning' claims of Russian interference in general election to spread support for Farage's Reform
A report says five co-ordinated Facebook pages have been spouting Kremlin talking points, with some expressing support for Nigel Farage's Reform UK party.
Claims of Russian interference in the general election campaign are "gravely concerning", the deputy prime minister has said.
Mr Dowden told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that Moscow allegedly using Facebook pages to spread support for Nigel Farage "is a classic example from the Russian playbook".
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) says it has been monitoring five co-ordinated Facebook pages which have been spouting Kremlin talking points, with some posting in support of Reform UK.
Mr Dowden, who has called the ABC report "gravely concerning", told Sky News: "This is something that I've warned about for some time.
"There is a threat in all elections, and indeed we see it in this election, from hostile state actors seeking to influence the outcome of the election campaign.
"Russia is a prime example of this and this is a classic example from the Russian playbook."
He added that this was a "low-level use of bots".
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The broadcaster also reportedly found most of the administrators for each page are based in Nigeria, which is a significant connection as previous online Russian propaganda networks were found to have been operating from Africa.
The reports come after Mr Farage faced a backlash for saying he blames the West and NATO for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Farage called it "cobblers" to claim bots generated by foreign state actors could interfere with the election outcome - as he launched a personal attack on Mr Dowden.
Russia has been doing this in every country of the west for many years now. The rise of Trump in the USA, AfD in Germany, FPÖ in Austria and so on is not a coincidence.
Everyone paying attention since 2016: NO SHIT
How old is Putin now? Surely we don't have to put up with this much longer?
The kleptocracy will survive past Pooty. It's what put him in charge after all.
If I were a politician and found out a malicious actor like russia or china supports me, I would re-evaluate my whole campaign, plans and program. It's an indicator there's something in it that will harm my country.
Unless you were a corrupt politician whose aim was self-enrichment by looting the country, in which case you may be reassured that you are on the right track
I think it's bold to assume that Russia has decided to support Farrage and not that they paid him to stand in the first place.
However, as Farage has already been spouting pro-Putin rhetoric, he'd probably see it as a great endorsement.
On the plus side, at least it is a lot clearer that voting for Farage is really furthering Putin's agenda to erode Western democracy (not that we needed the help).
Meanwhile, Brexit remains the Will Of The People, with both major parties absolutely ruling out any reversal as not to betray the robust, unvarnished opinions of true Brits like Barry the football-loving squaddie from Southampton whose Twitter account is now either a big-haired homeschooling mom from Missouri or the social media officer of Palestinians For Trump.
Colin from Portsmouth is on the line hello Colin!
Meanwhile, Sean Cromber has a lorry full of plastic sex arses stuck at Calais.
Fake accounts are definitely a problem, but the people who voted leave are real not Russian bots.
Politicians haven't done a U-turn on Brexit because basically everyone outside of a small % of highly political people is sick of talking about it, so making it your platform to restart the debate would be a massive own goal.
Pity they didn't do anything when claims emerged of Russia interfering with the Brexit vote.
Brexit means
BrexitRussian interference.I always thought Brexit meant Breakfast
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Mr Dowden told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that Moscow allegedly using Facebook pages to spread support for Nigel Farage "is a classic example from the Russian playbook".
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) says it has been monitoring five co-ordinated Facebook pages which have been spouting Kremlin talking points, with some posting in support of Reform UK.
Mr Dowden earlier told The Sunday Times: "These revelations reveal the real risk our democracy faces in this uncertain world.
"Malign foreign actors, promoting British political parties, policies and views that fit their agenda is just another example of the challenges in the increasingly volatile cyberspace of the 21st century and is gravely concerning to see during an election campaign."
The newspaper reported that Conservative chairman Richard Holden has written to Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, and Sir Tim Barrow, the national security adviser, asking for the claims to be investigated.
The network of pages has a combined 190,000 followers, each featuring criticism of several UK political parties, including the Conservatives and Labour, the ABC says.
The original article contains 543 words, the summary contains 173 words. Saved 68%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!