Russia warning

Fear of fake news ahead of UK election

Fake news fears ahead of the UK election: In the run-up to the general election, fake accounts on the online service X have been spreading "disinformation and hate" on a massive scale, according to an NGO.

The posts published by ten suspected bot profiles on the short message service were viewed an estimated 150 million times during the election campaign, as the organization Global Witness announced on Tuesday.

Within six weeks, more than 60,000 messages containing conspiracy theories and Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, homophobic and transphobic messages were posted from these accounts. Bots are computer programs that use algorithms to interact with users while pretending to be real people.

According to Global Witness, the posts, which also express support for Russian President Vladimir Putin, could have had an "excessive influence" on the election campaign.

Warning against Russia
British Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden had warned on Sunday that actors such as Russia were trying to influence the election by sharing pro-Kremlin content on Facebook.

Global Witness called on X and other online networks to "clean up their platforms and put our democracies before profit". Campaigner Ava Lee warned that democracy was at risk if discussions online were "influenced by someone who has paid for bots to spread division or put a particular party in power".

A new parliament will be elected in the UK on Thursday. According to polls, the opposition Labour Party has a good chance of a clear victory against the Conservatives, who have been in power for 14 years.