Anger over SNP aide exposed as a cybernat
AN SNP official has been unmasked as a cybernat who used a bogus Twitter account to label a political opponent a ‘Quisling’.
The offensive term, meaning Nazi collaborator, has become a common insult levelled by pro-independence activists at Unionist opponents.
The SNP has consistently denied that the party itself is linked with the legion of cybernats – SNP supporters who spread abuse and vile slurs online – but in recent weeks the claim has begun to unravel.
The Mail can reveal Andrew Szwebs, convener of the Stirling branch of the SNP, operated fake Twitter accounts which sought to ‘parody’ political rivals.
One sent out tweets as if they were written by Neil Benny, a Stirling Tory councillor, to humiliate him and his social media contacts. The account was called @bailliebenny – as Mr Benny is also a Baillie [a civic officer who sup-
‘Instructed to delete accounts’
ports the Lord Provost]. In the biography section, which outlines the profile of the user, Mr Benny is branded a ‘Quisling’, which originates from the Norwegian l eader Vidkun Quisling, who headed a Nazi collaborationist regime in the Second World War.
One of the fake tweets supposedly written by Mr Benny before last year’s referendum stated: ‘Top secret report leaked to the BBC reveals SNP to reintroduce slavery to balance the books after Yes vote! Shock horror fear!’, sent to BBC Scotland political journalist Glenn Campbell.
Surprisingly, so- called ‘ parody accounts’ are allowed to operate under Twitter guidelines as long as they clearly marked as parodies, but abuse and threats are not allowed.
But it is often not immediately obvious that such accounts are parodies, even when they are labelled as such, helping to undermine the credibility of the user.
Stirling Labour General Election candidate Johanna Boyd was also a victim of Mr Szwebs’s fake Twitter accounts, with a version – @Boyd4Stilring [sic] – tweeting: ‘Vous êtes des menteurs avec oeuf sur nos visages [you are liars with egg on our [sic] faces #labourlies’ This followed the row over Nicola Sturgeon’s alleged remark to the French ambassador that she wanted the Tories to win the General Election, a claim which the First Minister strongly denied.
Computer engineer Mr Szwebs’s deception was uncovered when rivals noticed he had sent out multiple identical tweets from his personal account, the SNP Stirl i ng account and the bogus accounts by accident – proving he was responsible for all of them.
Mr Szwebs was one of the people who nominated the SNP General Election candidate for Stirling County, Steven Paterson.
On the SNP website, Mr Szwebs, 50, says: ‘As a fervent supporter of our local SNP group of councillors, I have attended nearly all Stirling Council meetings in the last three years, and played an active role during the referendum campaign in setting up and working in the Yes Scotland shop in King Street along with a fine team of volunteers.’
He listed his aims as convener as maintaining the ‘vast numbers of new members who have recently joined, and to make sure every SNP candidate, be it councillor, MSP or MP, wins their seat wherever they stand’.
Mr Szwebs was unavailable for comment, but within hours of the Mail’s inquiries to the SNP yesterday over his conduct, the fake Twitter accounts were deleted.
A spokesman said: ‘Mr Szwebs has been instructed to delete these Twitter accounts immediately, and he has been removed from the City of Stirling SNP Twitter account administration.’
But the spokesman said some Labour members were also responsible for vile tweets and warned that the party must take action against them, stressing ‘online debate must be positive and respectful from all sides.’