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Re: The traditional CF voting intentions thread, week 6
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-...ting/104038246
Quote:
Tories 'highly alarmed' by network of pro-Russian Facebook pages interfering in UK election
Ahead of the UK elections, the ABC has been monitoring five coordinated Facebook pages which have been spreading Kremlin talking points, with some posting in support of Nigel Farage's populist Reform UK party — a key challenger to the Conservatives in the July 4 poll.
The five pages identified by ABC Investigations as being part of a coordinated network appear to have little in common. One page presents itself as a pro-refugee left-wing group, while others reference white supremacist conspiracy theories and use AI-generated images of asylum seekers to stoke anti-immigration fears.
The ABC has been able to link these seemingly disparate pages by examining the location data attached to the pages' administrators, tracking paid ads, and by analysing the pages' similar or shared content…
… The network identified by ABC Investigations consists of five Facebook pages with a combined 190,000 followers. The pages have repeatedly shared the same images, text posts, and talking points and often post around the same time.
The five pages all feature criticism of several UK parties including the Conservatives and Labour. Some of these pages have supported Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, with two calling him "the people's champion".
Mr Farage came to prominence after spearheading the UK's Brexit movement. His party is standing Reform candidates in some historically Conservative seats and could intensify the electoral wipe-out the incumbent party is expected to receive on July 4.
Facebook pages for local Reform UK branches have shared some of the AI-generated anti-immigration content from these pages but there is no evidence of direct involvement by the party.
Reform UK did not respond to ABC questions.
Names of Facebook pages in pro-Russian network identified by the ABC:
UK Patriots
British Patriots
Common Sense Britain
BritBlend
BeyondBorders UK
ABC's analysis of the five pages found that while they claim to be based in the UK, most of the administrators for each page are based in Nigeria, with a small number being listed as based in the UK.
All the pages have run paid ads on Facebook. "Patriotic UK" has also run political ads, with one in 2022 criticising western support of Ukraine and another this week supporting Mr Farage to win the UK election.
Ad library data showed it targeted the ads to British men who were older than 65 years old and were paid for using Nigerian currency (NGN).
The Nigerian connection is significant because previous online Russian propaganda networks were found to have been operating from Africa.
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