Russia targeted region ‘with pro-Brexit tweets’ ‘Troll factory’ accused of localising anti-EU propaganda
PRO-BREXIT tweets related to Birmingham and the West Midlands were among the tens of thousands of messages pumped out by alleged Kremlin agents, it has been claimed.
The region was cited in scaremongering posts that were either shared or originated by accounts linked to ‘troll factories’ thought to be based in Russia.
One of the Twitter profiles identified – which uses the name @DavidJo52951945 – repeatedly mentioned Birmingham with messages and links to other content.
A typical post read: “Birmingham children at risk from radicalisation under Labour councils.”
Another message from the account said: “Birmingham Muslim tells the BBC those insulting Islam should be killed – this is what the UK is dealing with.”
The claims were made by a national newspaper but other commentators said no solid evidence had been provided of a link with Russia and though the tweets have been deleted it remains active.
The profile used the city for wider scaremongering on September 1, as it switched to calling for a ‘hard’ Brexit.
One message read: “UK would need a new city the size of Birmingham every two years for migrants if we go for ‘soft’ Brexit.”
A regional search of other Twitter accounts identified by academics as being linked to ‘bot’ activity in the run-up to Brexit showed many received replies from the West Midlands.
Some Twitter users in the region challenged the material being aired.
Michael Ward, from Wolverhampton, replied to @nero – one of the alleged automated ‘bots’ churning out tweets in a network of accounts – to take issue with content about sexuality. He wrote: “You’re human irrelevant of prejudices! Enjoy life and be happy, don’t hate!”
Bernard McEldowney, a parish councillor in Bromsgrove and a retired West Midlands Police Inspector, also challenged the hard-right views on several occasions in the run-up to Brexit. He had no idea at the time that some of his online adversaries would be outed as likely Russian agents spreading misinformation on behalf of Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin.
Cllr McEldowney said: “With hindsight, and given what we’re hearing about Russian intervention in the American and British elections, I’m not surprised that these links have emerged.
“It’s got to the stage where it’s difficult to know who to believe or not to believe, there’s no way of telling who’s behind these accounts spouting hatred and nastiness. The police patrol is increasingly moving to Twitter and I see it as my duty to challenge the prejudice I see online.”
The Labour activist believes the emerging evidence warrants an official investigation into possible Russian meddling in the EU Referendum. He said: “We should have a similar investigation to the one in the US and if it does turn out that there was lots of interference by the Russians the referendum should be declared null and void.