Australian public broadcaster ABC has identified five coordinated Facebook pages, with a combined 190,000 followers, critical of several British political parties, including Labour and the Conservatives.
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“This is a classic example of the Russian game.” British Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden warned on Sunday, June 30, against the risk of Russian interference in the campaign for the general election of July 4. Referring to a “Low level“, he spoke on Sky News, after an Australian media outlet highlighted coordinated activity on Facebook.
“There is a threat in all elections, and indeed we see it in this election, from hostile actors seeking to influence the outcome” of the vote, said Oliver Dowden, citing Russia as an example.
Australian public broadcaster ABC identified five coordinated Facebook pages, with a combined following of 190,000, that were critical of several British political parties, including Labour and the Conservatives, but sometimes supportive of Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK party. Experts interviewed by ABC saw this as evidence of a Russian influence operation.
“I am not suggesting in any way that there is any kind of direct collusion.” between Russia and the leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party, Nigel Farage, said Oliver Dowden, stressing that his remarks are “to warn” of “the threat of Russian state interference in our elections.”
Asked on Sky News about fears of interference, the Reform UK leader dismissed what he called the “Russian hoax”. He further reiterated that the affair of racist remarks against British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak by an activist from his campaign was a “trap”. “It was a number from start to finish,” “a deliberate attempt to derail our campaign”he argued.
