Has the government got paid posters here to quash any dissenting voices?

[ssd]

There's always been robust discussions on politics on mn, but I've noticed lately when ever someone questions the government's track record on covid, certain posters pop up with very similar agendas, defending them to the hilt and trying to throw the discussion round to something else.

I'd like to see when posters actually joined mn, some newer posters must spend all their time on here defending the indefensible.

[YounghillKang]

I hope there are not because I support them but because it would be less depressing to find out these kinds of posters were Tory shills, but I also imagine that the endless pro-Boris posts are evidence of the lack of political awareness of a great number of people, able to be swayed by cheap slogans and endless invocations of WW2 rhetoric, rather than question anything. The thread that I found most amusing was the one suggesting that it was unpatriotic to question the government and somehow uniquely English, if only that were the case!

[DeDoRonRon]

I think so too - not every pro-govt poster, of course, but a couple are very obvious!

[ADreamOfGood]

Given that there have been actual protests in many nations, it's probably not the case younghill.

[Stuckforthefourthtime]

A YouGov survey on the weekend revealed that 57% of the British public (and likely a much higher percentage of the English public) believes that Boris Johnson is doing either very well or fairly well.

Many of us here, me included, live in a fairly urban liberal bubble where it's hard to imagine people defending our govt like this. I personally think it's been a shitshow from start to finish. But I come from a more deprived area where people absolutely voted Leave, want to trust the govt on schools going back, and are suspect of teachers' motives, because while people here often talk about underpaid teachers, it looks like a relatively well paid and secure profession to someone working in a seasonal zero hours job at minimum wage. Dismissing people who see things differently from you as bots is not so different from Trump calling all dissenting voices 'fake news'.

[Chaotica]

Definitely, OP. It's an important part of public relations these days for politicians or parties who want to get on.

Obviously there are genuine long-standing posters who disagree with each other too, but they are usually less obvious (and have a more varied posting history).

[Piggywaspushed]

Yes, and ST journalists.

You can spot the DfE posters by their accidental use of 'we' for DfE policy making and their use of certain rhetorical devices..

[cantkeepawayforever]

I think that those who are pro-Government are simply those who have those views and choose this platform to express it on - whether they are those who would in normal times be posting on MN about children's development, or choice of pram, or whether they have sought out this platform at this point, is moot.

I do wonder whether there is some effort - either through a 'nod and a wink' through friends, or a small sideline in some junior party worker's day - to float particular ideas / possible policies via this and other sites, to gauge reactions from MN's particular demographic and interest groups. I would imagine it is someone's occasional job to maintain surveillance of this and other large open sites to gain a feeling for current views, at the very least.

[effingterrified]

Piggy - don't think civil servants are actually paid to post pro-Government illicitly on MN!!

I think it is happening, clearly, but this will be backroom boys, not civil servants. Civil servants are not allowed to be party political.

[Candyflosscookie]

Of course there are, there have been for ages but it ramped up during the Brexit ref and has carried on. A couple are very obvious and really need to work on their fake "Mum" persona and I'm pretty sure I've spotted a couple more that have come on during CV to be "influencer" posters.

[BacklashStarts]

So basically you are saying no one can disagree with you and if they do they are government moles! Grow up I kinda agree with this. It’s the brexit vote again where people in a liberal bubble think it’s all ‘shills’ (an anti Semitic term which has made a comeback in labour circles) and are then confounded when it turns out not everyone agrees with them.

[effingterrified]

And yes, the thread titles are so obvious - did anyone else see the really positive news about...?

No poster ever in real life ever posted a thread title like that. It's just a lazy paid shill reading off their instructions - persuade people why it is positive news that...

[DoubleTweenQueen]

I've noticed this on here and FB. I'm sure there are those that are genuinely supportive of the govmnt, as there are those who are not, but I do see quite a bit of trying to shut down comments and debate by trying to guilt-trip or dismiss/undermine people outright and quite consistently

[Piggywaspushed]

True effing. I suspect you are right about the backroom boys.

[ADreamOfGood]

@BacklashStarts please could you link where "shill" is an anti-Semitic term? I have only heard it from eBay/shill bidding (i.e. accomplices bidding to drive up a price with no intention of completing the sale). I've no idea about the words origins.

[effingterrified]

And shill is not 'anti-Semitic'.

What a load of bollocks. Brownie points for the nouvelle way to try to shut down the discussion, though.

[effingterrified]

Cross post, Dream. :)

[Piggywaspushed]

You can see it, though, when you see the difference between the data in response to Parentkind /Gallup surveys and MN surveys, for example.

[CockCarousel]

I was quite baffled to see posters describing Boris's Sunday speech as "clear".

[digletgid]

I wouldn't be suprised.

Lots of suspect posters on here.

[ADreamOfGood]

Thank goodness @effingterrified!
I was googling and getting nothing. Never heard it used against any group of people, only individuals.

[Foobydoo]

I definitely think so.
You can tell them a mile of because the are so sickly sweet and one dimensional.
Poster A may be pro lockdown/school-reopening etc, but will give a fairly balanced argument
Mole 1 comes on and makes sickly 100% pro government one sided argument.
Poster B anti lockdown/ schools but makes reasonable balanced argument .
Mole 2 comes on all sickly and fawning over everything mole 1 said.
Or they come on pretending to be a bit simple and ask loaded questions hoping other posters will come on and agree.
They may as well have a flashing I work for Boris user name.

[PatriciaHolm]

Mumsnet is a very unrepresentative bubble, generally, which means people with what appear to be "outlier" opinions are more obvious. Looking at the sentiment here around the General Election, one would have suggested a comfortable Labour victory...

However, it's not representative of the public at large. As a PP says, a survey just this weekend shows that 57% of the public think Johnson is still doing "very well" or "fairly well".

On issues that directly affect parents - like the reopening of schools - it's understandable that MN often seems to have a strong leaning one way. However, some 70% of the population don't have school aged children, so may have a very different view.

[Miriel]

I've noticed this recently. There was a very critical thread about Matt Hancock which got bumped up again a few days later with several posters strongly defending him, posting in quick succession. I'm sure there are genuine posters who support him, too, but the timings and complete change in thread tone were very suspicious.

[emmskie03]

I think the fact that there is SAGE working with the government has helped people to get behind the decisions.

I also expect that there is also an element of the world being so scary and uncertain at the moment that if you don't believe that the Government are working effectively then you'll just spiral into depression.

Ultimately there will always be people who feel differently to what we feel. Mumsnet can often be a but of an echo chamber in terms of opinions but the differences in opinion on Covid doesn't mean the Givernment are paying people to post here. I really dont think that the posters on mumsnet are that influential

[pigsDOfly]

I have no idea one way or the other regarding the government paying people to post positive views on MN or FB regarding government policy if I'm honest.

What I do know is that no-one but no-one on here on any other social medium is going to make me think that Johnson is dealing well with this situation, nor is anyone going to persuade me, ever, that Brexit is a good idea for Britain.

Is the average person so easy swayed by the opinions of anonymous strangers on the internet that the government would think it worthwhile to pay people to post on sites like MN?

Maybe they are. If so it's a sad reflection of the intelligence of the average person.