MNHQ - do you think that there were Russian trolls operating on Mumsnet during the Brexit debates?

"It clogged up debate, which I think was the intention."

It prevented one side of the debate getting a clear run.

There would be just as much validity in saying that some posters are on the left-wing klaxon (something known to exist) and just want to fill boards with their viewpoint, so that there is no airtime for other view points.

I would not like it if MN became an echo chamber.

And I hope you are providing MNHQ with actual examples of posts/posters you think are trolls.

(BTW - given the frequency of name changing, I wouldn't read anything in to usernames coming and going)

No, I would be surprised if there were any targeting of MN (which isn't a political player by any stretch, no longer attracts big name posters for special threads etc)

I know there are people here who want to 'other' anyone whose views do not match theirs. But more people voted for Brexit than against it. More people voted Tory than Labour. And enough people voted for Trump to return him in their system (which can be done by a slightly lesser public vote, as Al Gore found out too).

Those people are real, they exist, and they sometimes post on MN, despite the tone of the site.

If you want to know what I mean by that, go back and read some of the post-election threads where posters have tried to answer the questions about why MN doesn't reflect RL.

The complaint here seems to be that there were a some right wing posts and posters. Well, given the size of MN, if there weren't - something wouldn't be badly wrong.

Wherever did claig go?

skippykips It would be nice if most people used Social media as a means to deepen our understanding, rather than just confirm beliefs. I still hope that social media will fulfil its potential for this.

I think one thing that the bots did was create an illusion of a mass consensus - that alone can be quite swaying. People do think, "Well, lot's of other people think this is a good idea, so it can't be all bad ..." And it works much like the ridiculous 'balance' the BBC presented - an ill-thought-out 50% 'pro' and 50% 'anti', which gave an illusion that informed opinion was 50-50 (rather than most experts thinking it was crazy).

I suspect quite a few people were swayed.

They had a very strange, very similar approach too, which relied a great deal on sheer volume - quantity rather than quality. It clogged up debate, which I think was the intention.

The anti school cuts campaign with the interactive website showing how much each school was losing has been credited with losing a lot of Tory support in the election and that was hugely spread by social media, including MN.

Of course the low information voters can be swayed by posts on social media. It's one of the most effective ways to get someone who doesn't usually participate in politics to vote the way you want. I feel sure there are and has been Russian or Leave related interference here. I too remember the poster who loved Trump and Brexit who rang alarm bells for me.

@Glamourgates I did!
I was all for Brexit (yes, I know 🙄)
Then I saw a debate on facebook. I realised I was really not educated in politics enough. I looked into all the points debaters gave and I changed my mind. Luckily before voting.
Had I not have been on social media that day I would have voted in favour of Brexit!
So yes, I think those who are not really aware of what brexit meant could have easily been persuaded both ways!
The pro brexit brigade gave such strong and believable points that I can imagine some were swayed towards it! Some people may not have done what I did and looked into each point! Some people may have read the points and had taken it as gospel.

Now, I will go and hang my head in shame for once thinking brexit was a good idea!

Yy.

Doubt it was just the Russians, Dominic Cummings, Director of Vote Leave loves that sort of meddling with social media.

I think there were. And have been since. And I think we do need to protect our spaces of conversation and debate in a different, more aware, way from the very ill-intentioned. They're of a different order to the astro-turfers and standard poli-trolls.

Pencils; I mean tne trans stuff that winds us up! Not our resistance!

I agree with kalapattar. I’ve been on the Trump threads since the beginning (since he was on the campaign trail, at least) and I do feel there were a couple of posters that derailed threads in an unusual way. They changed names but I came to recognise their style. The reason I think they may have been bots and not simply extreme right-wing voters - and I’ve thought this for at least a year - is their consistency of view and language was slightly off, and they would disappear abruptly when challenged, to not reappear for some months.

Half the Trans stuff is stirred up by Russian and Alt Right fake news peddlers.

Don't be soft. This is mumsnet. Most of us are mums. We have intimate knowledge of what 'sex' and 'woman' mean.

Is it too much bear to think that maybe, just maybe, there are people out there that have different opinions to you?!

😮😮😮😮😮

Meh, there has always been loads of astroturfers on MN.