Suspicious accounts ‘following Nigeria’ are being used to push pro-UK reform content on TikTok.

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When Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer debated the election campaign in person for the first time, all eyes were on how they would perform.

But cybersecurity experts from Cardiff University working with ITV News discovered a collection of accounts with “unusual behavior” on TikTok calling for support for Reform UK.

Clips of the ITV leaders' debate, along with interviews with other political parties, were altered for TikTok, but it was clear that comments containing the phrases 'Vote Reform' or 'Reform UK' were repeatedly posted.

Opinion polls show that levels of support for UK reform have risen since the election campaign began and have risen further since Nigel Farage was elected leader. But the weight and repetition of the comments, and the behavior of some accounts, have raised questions.

Analysis by ITV News and a team at Cardiff University shows that while there is no evidence that UK Reform was involved in setting up the accounts, they are all clear in support of Reform.

An analysis was carried out of 14 different videos posted on the ITV News and ITV Politics TikTok accounts accompanying the hour-long ITV debate between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer and the 'Leader Interviews' programme. Only two of the 14 videos featured representatives from Reform UK.

At the time, around 4% of all comments on the video consisted of the same comments supporting reform – Vote Reform or Reform UK – which were repeated.

It far surpassed other comments openly supporting other political parties.

A total of 7,766 comments were posted on 14 videos.

This identified 45 different accounts repeatedly promoting UK reform through their comments, thereby generating support for the party.

Twenty-three of those accounts had enough data for ITV News to analyze them properly.

Experts working with ITV News believe that more than half of the 14 accounts analyzed could potentially be bots or automated fake accounts, with a further 25% displaying bot-like behavior.

This means they often post content that is unrelated to their profile or use formal usernames such as first name, last name, and a series of four numbers.

The remaining 20% ​​of the accounts analyzed were found to be legitimate.

We tried sending messages to 14 suspicious accounts on TikTok. Only three of them wrote back saying they were supporters of British reform, but when we asked for a call they said they didn't want to talk to us.

The other account didn't respond to us and we couldn't confirm if it was real.

Credit: TikTok

All of the accounts we analyzed are thought to have originated in the UK, but experts at Cardiff University had a disproportionately large number of followers they could track in Nigeria. Experts believe that this could be a bot that helps increase attention and engagement by buying followers or boosting comments.

Experts traced more than 3,122 follower accounts across Reform UK-backed accounts to Nigeria.

ITV News discovered a number of sites openly selling TikTok followers, with 1,000 followers costing as little as 15.

We also looked at videos we had published specifically in relation to Reform UK. This included interviews with former leaders Richard Tice and Nigel Farage, although there were few repeated comments on the same scale in support of the party.

In a live stream of the YouTube debate between X and ITV News, the same expert identified a similar pattern of behavior.

Credit: PA

So could these followers be connected to a ‘bot farm’?

A bot farm is a collection of automated scripts designed to automatically click on or post content to increase engagement or grow followers. Typically, this consists of a large collection of phones or tablets connected to a control unit that performs repetitive tasks.

There have been similar claims about bot farms influencing previous elections. In 2020, Facebook, of which Meta is the parent company, claimed to have uncovered a network of Russian-led bot farms outsourced to workers in Ghana and Nigeria.

However, Cardiff University experts said that due to the different nature of how the accounts were set up, there is currently no indication that if this is a bot farm, it was founded by or working for Russia.

Credit: AP

Why does this happen?

Responses from some of these accounts show that they are run by reform supporters, but others are as yet unsubstantiated and may not be true. But experts hold any explanation to amplify the message of Reform Britain to a wider audience who may not intend to vote for the party in July.

Cybersecurity expert Tom Kirkham explained that he observed similar behavior during the 2016 and 2020 US elections.

“It’s a huge problem. It’s hard to overstate the size of the hacking industry. There are estimates that the industry could be worth up to $10 billion by 2023.”

Kirkham said social users may be more careful about what is real and what may not be. “You should be suspicious of all user-generated content. Read the comments.

“Make no mistake, this is a very professionally organized campaign.

“We all have a responsibility to realize that this is a clear and present danger.”

About a week after our video was posted, comments related to reform began to appear as ‘blue comments’ in the search box at the top of many comments.

Our experts suggested it may be because TikTok's algorithm was influenced by the weight of comments, giving users the option to search for more 'Reform UK' related videos.

A Reform UK spokesperson denied any involvement and claimed it was “laughable” that they had the means or inclination to set up these accounts.

They also said they were “pleased with the organic growth of online support,” but said this had led to some accounts not officially affiliated with the party and “actively subverting and lying about who we are.”

TikTok, which is investigating the account, said: “We will continue to protect the integrity of the UK general election on TikTok by working with fact-checkers and the Electoral Commission to increase trustworthy information in our election centers and strictly prohibit fraudulent activity. “We are constantly tracking, removing and reporting on this and it is disappointing that ITV has refused to provide evidence to support their findings.”

The Electoral Commission, which oversees British elections, said there were no special provisions in election law regarding the use of social media accounts, fake or real.

As a result, they urged voters to look for printouts, a requirement in election materials that show who paid for the promotion, so they can clearly see who is trying to influence them.

“We encourage activists and political parties to carry out their important role responsibly and consider the impact of their activities on public trust in elections,” they said.

Have you listened to our new podcast Talking Politics? Each week, Tom, Robert and Anushka dig into the biggest issues dominating the political agenda.

Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.itv.com/news/2024-06-14/suspicious-accounts-being-used-to-push-pro-reform-uk-content-on-tiktok The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

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