Are the government using fake social media accounts to push their agenda AGAIN?

[noblegiraffe]

Interesting allegation on twitter last night that a government department organised fake twitter accounts using photos of real NHS workers (without permission) to push an ‘end lockdown’ agenda.

twitter.com/jdpoc/status/1252266724449230848?s=21

It’s something this particular bunch have done before so shouldn’t be instantly dismissed.

God, they're thick.

When have they done it before?

Changing the CCHQ account to a ‘fact check’ account.
And the time when their bots malfunctioned (see pic)

Dom Cummings used to have people come on here when he worked with Gove in education and during the Brexit campaign (no proof of that though it was obvious).

Don’t forget the dodgy Cambridge Analytica stuff.

All examples of misinformation, definitely, but I'm struggling to make the implied connections between them. These seem like different events, different actors and purposes.

You might be interested in thus though www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/3886452-The-hospital-I-work-in-is-so-quiet?pg=1&order=

Yy they are and tbh it seems like they've found MN.

This should be a much bigger story in the MSM.

I'd love if MN added a disclaimer to all threads saying posters claiming to be NHS staff may be paid shills for the government so don't put your trust in their medical diagnoses, arguments on lockdown/herd immunity, or in their integrity.

I'm struggling to make the implied connections between them.

Boris Johnson, Gove, Cummings and a particular way of working. Those people are currently pretty prominent!

In this case the fake accounts appear to have been traced back to the Department of Health and Social Care.

xtinak I have been wondering about that thread. It was started by someone who was against the lockdown in the first place, so they may have an agenda?

Didn't Corbyn and Trump do similar?

BUT CORBYN

Interesting.

More proof needed as to what's going on, and who's behind it, of course.

For those who missed it, CCHQ (Conservative Campaign HQ) temporarily changing its front page to masquerade as a fact-checking organisation.

Tories accused of misleading public over CCHQ Twitter 'factcheck stunt'
www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/11/20/tories-accused-misleading-public-cchq-factcheck-stunt-says-twitter/

Tories revive fake 'fact-checking' brand to celebrate election victory
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/fact-check-uk-general-election-result-conservatives-boris-johnson-twitter-a9244951.html
Twitter said in a statement that the Conservatives had misled the public during the debate and that it would take “decisive corrective action” if a similar stunt was attempted again.

On the morning after the debate, Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, defended CCHQ’s decision and told the BBC that “no-one gives a toss about social media cut and thrust”.

I don’t think Corbyn needed to create fake accounts, he had plenty of actual people who really believed the stuff they were posting.

Is there any other source for this claim besides the jpdoc twitter account?

Is it national tin foil hat day today or something.

If the government wanted to send an end lock down message they’d just do it, lol.

Yeah so personally I'm happy to believe in the fake accounts, but I'd say it's far from clear who would be behind them and why.

If it is the government, DHSC etc. then my god are they amateurs - that would be the most terrifying aspect of it!

Fake social media accounts with an agenda has been going on for years. There was that nurse account massively retweeted saying that her colleagues had died of coronavirus and the hospital had to refute it.

If you don’t think it’s happening you’re an idiot.

If you think that the current regime haven’t used fake social media manipulation you’re an idiot.

The question here is whether these particular fake accounts were from a government department.

xtinak, I agree this needs corroboration.

Shall watch and wait.

Oh! The Twitter account nhs_susan has disappeared!

Here it is in the jdpoc thread I screenshotted a few minutes ago earlier.

And here it is now.

Don’t agree they’d just send an email. They are more cunning than than.
Did it with brexit - remember how no deal was initially the most damaging form of brexit, not a cat in hells chance of it ever happening then gradually every Tom, Dick and Harry seemed to be in favour of it ? I’m convinced that leave voters were subtly manipulated by bots in social media to view it as a less extreme option until it was the veritable height of normality. So this is the same tactic regarding lockdown. Bombard people enough with posts about relaxing the lockdown and you create a public groundswell demanding it !

PerkingFaintly I’ve seen that twitter person and she didn’t ring true

This is a good summary of the questions that need answered:
scramnews.com/government-fake-nhs-staff-social-media-accounts-unanswered-questions/

And for bonus points, the potentially fake account just happens to shoehorn in some trans stuff.

Of course this may be a real account, of a real person posting in good faith.

But IME there's a surprising overlap between trans-declaring accounts and completely fake accounts.

Bluntness you obviously missed the interviews government staffers did at the start of the pandemic where they said they were using nudge theory to try to influence public opinion and actions. This is a perfect example of that.

Thanks, xtinak.

So according to that Scram News article, West Herts Hospital have already declared the nhs_susan account a fake and reported it to Twitter, and the photo has been identified as being one Mia Magklavani, a paediatrics nurse from Greece.

Perking The NHS Trust confirmed that account was fake and that they asked Twitter to pull it.