Scotland is ‘a target’ for Twitter bots

Report claims ‘hostile foreign states’ are interfering in online discussions

Online civic discourse in Scotland is being undermined by “bots”, with the nation now a “clear target” for hostile foreign states looking to disrupt andinfluenceopinion,according to a new report.

Anywhere between 4 per cent and 12 per cent of Scottish-related conversation and activity on Twitter is classed as “potentially malign” by the study, commissioned by SNP MEP Alyn Smith.

It said that the vast majority of the fake discourse revolved around key issues such as a second independence on Scottish independence and Brexit. However, it added that overall, social media use in Scotland was “largely positive”.

The report, entitled Scotland and Social Media, Trolls Under the Bridge?, was carried out by JJ Patrick, a former Metropolitan Police inspector turned author and investigative journalist.

It scrutinised a weighted sample of Twitter accounts and tweets, and concluded that 4.25 per cent of Scottish Twitter activity is identifiable as potentially malign. The figure rises to a maximum of 12.24 per cent in an assessment of certain account types.

Out of some 36.4 million tweets analysed, a potential maximum of 4.2 million could be malign, the report claimed.

It also said that Russia is discussed almost as much as a second independence referendum on Scottish Twitter, closely followed by the #Dissolvetheunion hashtag, with malign bots focusing on Brexit and Dissolve The Union messaging.

It also pointed to evidence of “hostile state-led interference” concerning the former first minister and SNP leader Alex Salmond.

Scotland, it went on, was a “clear target for hostile state and non-state actors” as a result of its of status as an “independent nation operating under devolved power arrangements during a time of crisis from the United Kingdom”.

It predicted that this kind of malign activity will increase, rather than decrease, in the future.

The report concluded: “Scottish Twitter does have a problem with bots, both malign and benign, and the scale of the problem is quantifiable.

“This does have some impact on Scottish public discourse and there is influence exerted both on and off social media.

“However, Scotland (and its social media usage) remains largely positive with a central focus on living life to the full.”

Mr Smith said that he had been suspicious in the past on Scotland-related activity on Twitter.

He said: “In recent months there have been various moments where ‘Scottish Twitter’ has not rung true for me, such as the SNP MP walkout from Westminster, or the Catalan referendum. Suddenly I have received a dozen tweets all saying the same thing, with spurious arguments suddenly appearing as if out of nowhere.

“I do not have enough evidence to point any fingers in any particular geographic or political direction – nor does this report – but it does show that there is an issue we all need to work on and that online everything is not necessarily what it seems.”