Too many fake current affairs posts on MN

So what exactly is a "bot"?

A fully automated AI agent programmed to seek out sites such as MumsNet and then auto-generate an anti-Labour post?
A human being who dislikes Labour and can't be arsed to write their own postings so gets ChatGPT write one and posts that?
A human being who endless name-changes to write anti-Labour posts?
A human being who has written an automated system to generate anti-Labour diatribes and post them specifically to MumsNet?
A human being who has been paid to do one of those things above?
A human being whose brain is fried so they have no thoughts except anti-Labour thoughts?

Or what?

I agree OP, the repetition of phrases and themes makes it incredibly obvious. I guess it would be weird if Mumsnet wasn’t targeted - it’s an influential platform. Very hard to address, though.

Approval is dropping each week. The majority say that so why wouldn’t that be reflected on a public site?

There've been bots on this site for eons. It's not new. HQ either can't or choose not to do anything about it.

Mumsnet is a hugely influential website that is populated by thousands of British women, who traditionally lean left.

This is deliberate. Notice how they are trying to frame the subject around sexual violence and safety concerns, because as women this is what we are afraid of most. Don’t let them scare you into falling for their lies.

I agree, OP, and it's something that will make me leave MN forever if it isn't sorted out soon.

I know 🙈.

I’ve never started a post before ..... If you want to leave a comment feel free, I only came here to post, I probably won’t be reading the replies

😂

It really doesn't help when Starmer himself spouts right wing trouble makers so often. He said it the other day about people wanting action on the grooming gangs. Some of which are in Rachel Reeves constituency. That's a kick in the teeth to all.

Also lots more US posters these days, too.

Yeah, I get the impression we’re being targeted en mass….It’s not subtle. All about how shit the UK is, and why it’s the Labour government’s fault.

Outside mn there’s plenty of discussion re recent economic impact and markets

Plenty of criticism of Starmer and co too

I think people need to accept this site isn’t just for Labour posters as public sentiment has moved on.

Multiple posts from Labour about ‘bots’ on every thread is tedious and since they’re polling around the same as Reform the same amount currently support the latter

It’s a public site not a closed Labour one

I see the same from Labour supporters and union reps. There is one poster in particular that riles up support with thread after thread on this forum before each strike. Not everyone is a bot who doesn't think the Labour government are wonderful, OP.

So having argued against you on another post, this one I do agree with.

I think I just scroll past any post that trumpets anything, to be honest. Whether right or left. I’m drawn to the discussions and conversations and tune out anything with a nasty name (Rachel from Accounts, Two Tier) or unnuanced accusation.

Yep, same phrases. Reminds me of all the Covid denying ‘do your own research’ which was literally repeated word for word everywhere. Drove me insane. Hopefully bots because if not it’d be the least independent thinkers in history.

One of the things I find frustrating is the assumption that view A - or wanting to talk about A- is actually code for staunch belief in ideas b-f.

‘Freedom of speech’ is being taken as a sign you’re dangerously far right.
Discussing issues with immigration- ditto.

And the media. I don’t watch or listen to any of the various news outlets or vloggers that are associated with conspiracy theories or extreme views. I’m aware they exist. Don’t read any particular newspaper. I’m still aware that some issues aren’t reported accurately, or at all by the BBC.
It’s not wrong to discuss that.

And obviously you won’t believe I’m not a Tory voter. I’m actually a homeless formerly SDLP, formerly Green voter.
Left leaning centrist. And shocked by the bile spewed about ordinary people who didn’t vote labour.

@selffellatingouroborosofhate listening to paedophiles so you can design programmes to better prevent them accessing children and to find them, is very different from listening to paedophiles on a chat forum.

Mumsnet is a chat forum. Not an academic research programme. So MN decide who can post their view here. And users can decide who they read and talk to, and who they scroll by and ignore.

I routinely scroll by people who post comments littered with misinformation. One fact wrong and I will point it out. But if posters are constantly doing this, my experience tells me they do not really care about the facts, just "their truth". And frankly life is too short.

This!

I don't know if it is per se, but there were a lot of issues around this poster during the election, and when they were named the threads would get deleted.

I don’t know and I am curious. Is it against Talk guidelines to name usernames?

Depends on what the paedophile is having an opinion about. How to build a railway line? If the paedophile happens to be a civil engineer, we should probably listen to him. How to safeguard children? Actually, we probably should still listen, even if only for "what not to do". Also, remember that Pat Craven's Freedom Programme was informed by her decades of work in prisons with abusive men, getting inside their heads and finding out what motivates them and what they look for in a victim. Her listening to those violent abusers and writing up what she learned has saved women's lives. Listening to an imprisoned paedophile describe how he grooms parents and children and what he looks for in a victim allows us to use that information to protect children.

Likewise Tate: we are wise to listen to him and use that information to watch out for danger signs in boys and warn girls about red flags.

"Listen to" means "listen to". It doesn't mean "agree with". It doesn't mean "compromise with".

One of the biggest reasons for my continued engagement with Mumsnet is that I do like to hear different opinions. It's become very difficult to find a variety of viewpoints now, with algorithms and siloed groups forcing users into ever narrower enclaves.

For the same reason, I subscribe to emails from all the main UK political parties. It's more than a little noticeable that, whenever the Conservatives send a well-produced tirade about some aspect of the current government, Mumsnet fills up with indignant OPs saying the same thing. Over and over again.

I used to learn a lot from online news discussions. Now I'm mainly learning that all the parties have embraced 'astroturfing' like it's the key to world peace, the Conservatives have the best-organised (and paid) operatives, and Reform's shills make up in emotion what they lack in erudition. Also that Labour and the other parties are pretty bad at it. Momentum keeps its head above water, but see Reform only with better quotes.

I miss the horizon-expanding discussions I enjoyed so much. They're probably still here, but I can't be arsed to look for them between all the "Rachel Reeves Is Destroying the UK" simul-posts.

Why should I listen to all viewpoints? Andrew Tate? Paedophiles?
What a ridiculous principle

Diversity of thought is the most important kind. The other kinds of diversity, like race and sex, are to make sure that the thinkers aren't all white able-bodied men because experience tells us that they really cannot be trusted to think of everything.

Diversity of thought requires inclusion of viewpoints that we disagree with.