Are fake pro-reform UK social accounts influencing the election?

10 hours ago

By Marianna Spring, Disinformation and Social Media Correspondent

BBC

“Vote for UK Reform”, “Only UK Reform has a real plan for Britain” – one account on X has posted similar messages every two hours since the election campaign began.

The account, called GenZBloomer, is one of dozens across X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. The BBC confirmed the account had posted hundreds of repeated messages in comment threads expressing support for UK reform.

Their actions have sparked claims from other social media users that they are fake – automated “bot” accounts – and are distorting online conversations to exaggerate Reform UK's popularity.

The BBC contacted the people behind the accounts and confirmed that some were genuine British voters who believed they were helping the party through their initiatives. However, others have failed to prove that it is real.

I noticed this pattern of comments in recommended posts on my Secret Voter feed. It features 24 fictional characters based across the UK with social media accounts and was created to investigate what content is recommended to different types of voters during elections. Your profile is private and you have no friends. They like, follow, and watch relevant content.

Marianna Spring: Why are we tracking 24 phones in this election?

“The main purpose of my account at the moment is to restore British culture and values,” the GenZbloomer account said in a message.

Following concerns about foreign interference in previous elections, some social media users suggested that GenZbloomer and other similar accounts may not be based in the UK. They pointed out phrases that native speakers were unlikely to use, such as “making an article” instead of “writing an article” and “neighborhood pub” instead of “local pub”.

Others are convinced that the GenZbloomer profile must be a parody. It specifically mentions a blog post shared by the Love Island and Starmer' references Labor leader Sir Keir.

The person claiming to be behind GenZbloomer said they were based in the “Annesley England area” (an unusual way to describe a small town in Nottinghamshire) and gave me a UK mobile number.

They agreed to talk to me on the phone but didn't return any of my calls after that.

GenZBloomer has posted hundreds of times about X's British reforms.

On WhatsApp, the account is listed as a business account for a “consulting agency” and displays a profile image of a faceless cartoon figure wearing a microphone headset.

In a message laced with grammatical errors, they claimed they were “Gen Z voters” who “want a decent Brexit but the Conservatives are broken”.

The account claimed that it was working “with Reform England” to “win Reform England and help spread its values ​​across the UK.”

The person who sent me the message did not provide any evidence to support this claim and a Reform UK spokesperson said the profile was in no way linked to any political party. Reform UK told the BBC it had contacted the social media company about other accounts falsely claiming to be linked to the party.

Some of GenZbloomer's responses to my message sounded like a parody. They explained how I should speak to the Reform Party county organizer before speaking to me, but added, “It shouldn't be a problem. Reform has a very lax vetting process.”

After sending and receiving text messages, I noticed that my phone number was blocked.

Since this article was first published, the GenZbloomer account has been suspended by X for violating the rules.

Some social media users claimed comments supporting the UK reforms were being posted by bots.

Social media users are now more likely to accuse other accounts of being bots. Even if some of these profiles turn out to be genuine, these accounts claim to undermine trust and disrupt online discussion.

Over the past decade, attempts by hostile foreign powers, such as Russia, to sow division and promote particular viewpoints in Western elections have been documented. They used a network of what social media companies call “fake accounts” and what users call bots or “troll farms.” It's unclear whether the actions of these accounts changed anyone's mind.

In recent weeks Reform UK has made significant gains in opinion polls. This may partly explain Reform UK’s growing role in online conversations.

A Reform UK spokesperson told the BBC: “We are pleased that our online support has grown organically, but there are also accounts that are not officially affiliated with the party but are actively subverting and lying about who we are.”

The spokesman said some people mistakenly believe that the only way others could become supportive of UK reforms was if they were somehow fooled by the internet.

In total, I found over 50 profiles with the characteristics of fake accounts, posting in support of Reform UK on various social media sites. Although the profile could still be real.

These characteristics may include non-identifying usernames and profile photos, not appearing like followers or real friends, engaging in content that is entirely political or divisive, or reposting the same repeated phrases.

Content containing bot comments was pushed to the BBC's Undercover Voter profile in Bridgend.

Some didn't have their own posts. Others, who appear to be based outside the UK, had previously posted about US politics, sport or animal abuse before switching to Reform UK. Some also shared conspiracy theories about COVID-19 or posts opposing Ukraine and supporting Russia.

I have never seen another account post about another political party in the same way or make the same accusations.

Many of these accounts did not respond when I contacted them. But someone named username341317847855 did. He said his name was Martin and agreed to speak to me on the phone from his quiet van in London.

“Of course I am a real person. I am tired of the government. I am tired of the lawmakers,” he said. He downplayed the bot claims, joking that I could call him “Bot Martin” and saying he wasn’t worried that the accusations could tarnish Reform UK’s social media posts.

Martin said no political party or user encouraged him to post. He said he decided to vote for the first time in this election.

Although the account had some of the characteristics of a bot, the BBC traced it to an original voter named Martin in London.

Several of these accounts told me they were real people based in the UK and sharing their political views. Some have shared evidence with me to prove this.

One account run by a man named Matt said: “I am not a bot. I am politically homeless.”

He said he was from Bury, was 46 years old and was a welder by trade. He has no profile picture or posts on his TikTok account and only comments on other people's videos.

He told me that he had never been instructed by any political party or anyone else to make comments in support of British reform.

Matt said seeing other profiles posting comments similar to his on social media helped him realize “they're not the only ones who feel this way and have these views.”

As Matt's experience shows, comments that raise awareness of a political party, whether from UK voters or fake accounts, can encourage more real people to get involved.

This is further evidence that this election suggests that individual social media users and anonymous accounts have the ability to shape online conversations as effectively as content coming from political parties themselves.

A TikTok spokesperson previously told the BBC that the company had introduced “more policies to aggressively respond to foreign election interference.”

“It is against Meta’s policies to create fake accounts or engage in inauthentic activities,” a spokesperson for Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, told the BBC.

X (formerly Twitter) said, “We are removing accounts involved in platform manipulation.”

Two out of three Bridgend Undercover voters recommended content linked to the UK reform bot claim.

Undercover Voters are fictional profiles designed to represent diverse voters in battleground constituencies across the UK. They follow, view, and like content that relates to their personalities, informed by data and analytics from the National Center for Social Research.

For this story I examined the profile feeds of some of the virtual voters in the Bridgend constituency in Wales, currently held by the Conservatives and targeted by Labor.

Gavin, a right-wing voter in his 60s with a keen interest in politics, actively recommended content about Reform UK through his social media feeds, including material containing bot posts in the comments. .

Meanwhile, 72-year-old Eluned, a left-wing Welsh nationalist who is very supportive of the European Union (EU), received several posts and comments from people concerned that the profile supporting these reforms was a bot.

Lily, 18, is not very interested in politics. Her feed is full of content about Taylor Swift.

Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1335nj316lo The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

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