Sunday Times Claims Russian Bots Helped Corbyn
An investigation by the Sunday Times has claimed that Russian bots attempted to influence the general election last June by promoting Jeremy Corbyn.
The study, done in collaboration with Swansea University, found 6,500 Russian Twitter accounts tweeting messages supporting Corbyn and the Labour party as well as criticising the Conservative government they faced.
According to The Times, "Many of the Russian accounts can clearly be identified as internet robots - known as bots - that masqueraded under female English names but were in fact mass-produced to bombard the public with orchestrated political messages."
They add, "Academics say the fake accounts identified by this newspaper are just the tip of the iceberg and called on Twitter to investigate fully the true scale of Russian meddling in British politics."
Of the 6,500 accounts, The Times found that "80% of the automated accounts had been created in the weeks before the vote on June 8 and swung into action at key points during the campaign."
These accounts amplified messages around Theresa May's refusal to engage in the live television debates and used the Manchester Arena terrorist attack to criticise her for cutting police numbers while she was home secretary.
However, critics have been vocal about the veracity of the claims pointing out that it is a leap to assume the accounts were Russian just because their language was set as such.
The investigation also appears to make no credible link between accounts re-tweeting praise and criticism and any impact on voting.
Speaking to The Independent, Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab fellow Ben Nimmo said that it was difficult to prove the aim of these accounts.
“For me the key question is: are these commercial bots that someone hired to amplify political messaging in the UK, or are they dedicated bots that someone set up to generate the political effect themselves?
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell dismissed the story as s a “classic Sunday Times smear campaign” and people have been pointing out the hypocrisy of the Conservative government complaining about foreign countries interfering in elections when the Tories have received large donations from Russian individuals.
I want to have a look at the research behind this story. But it’s still really hard to prove any Twitter bot activity actually influenced anyone, actually reached a large number of people, or changed anyone’s votes. pic.twitter.com/es3ls79wbk
- Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) April 28, 2018
That Sunday Times Russian bot "study". Beyond using "is the language or location set to Russian" as a method for IDing covert Russian state actors, which has never seemed *terribly* convincing to me, there's something else that jumps out as a question. 1/5
- Tom Phillips (@flashboy) April 29, 2018
Sunday Times have completely lost the plot with their latest front page. Trying so hard to convince their readers that millions voted Corbyn 'cus Russian bots' instead of the fact that our economic and political systems are only serving the interests of the few.
- Matt Turner (@MattTurner4L) April 28, 2018
All stories about ‘Russian twitter bots influencing elections’ provide no satisfactory explanation of how a spam account retweeting something into the void is supposed to affect the political process in any way
- Jon Stone (@joncstone) April 29, 2018
No one can explain how “Russian bots” that retweet messages to virtually no followers has any influence at all on people. But if you’ve noticed an increase in unashamedly pro Theresa May accounts on this website, remember the Conservatives are paying for tweeters pic.twitter.com/qLrweozSor
- Matt Zarb-Cousin (@mattzarb) April 29, 2018
I have never received a penny from Russia, while the Tories received £840,000 from Russian oligarchs before the election and Tory Party Chairman Brandon Lewis received £30,000 personally. Yet apparently the Russian Bot is me. What a very strange world.
- Craig Murray (@CraigMurrayOrg) April 29, 2018
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