Of course there are. Same with brexit, tons of bots flooded social media during both the Scottish Indyref and the brexit referendum.
And it’s never stopped. Russia is by far the biggest culprit though both Iran and China have been involved as well.
This shouldnt be a surprise at this point. Almost everyone of these movements are designed to weaken the UK and USA from within, I mentioned it on my previous comment but its by design.
Useful idiots is a term for a reason. Since WW2 America basically made sure no one can physically defeat them or their allies, the only way we will all fall is from infighting and division in politics etc.
Who’da thunk it.
Are the Iranians (all four of them) in the room with us right now?
There will be accounts from all over trying to upset the systems. What other pro or anti something accounts are being run from? Russia/Israel/India. Twitter is 100% manipulation.
I think it’s safe to say that anything politics related will be inundated with bots, the same bot farms will be pushing both sides of any and all arguments as the aim is not for any side to “win” but to destabilise and sow discourse.
I know it’s hard but don’t argue with bots or random people on the internet. I say this knowing that half the responces at least will be from Bots.
What Twitter accounts _aren’t_ bots? Dead Internet theory is real.
Of course there are, as are many unionist ones.
The US just had lots of MAGA accounts shown at bots or foreign as well, which is why Musk has hidden their origins again.
If everyone could actually see where they were based it would actually make politics so much better.
This shouldn’t be a surprise tbh.
There are major high profile accounts on X that are obviously real people
But you can spotthe pro Indy, pro UK,pro Brexit, MAGA, pro Palestine, pro Israel, pro Russia, antifa, pro Ukraine and many more geopolitical bot accounts from a mile away.
The splitting up of any group of western nations is obviously beneficial for Russia and other eastern nations.
Mental that it’s playing on the lowest common denominators flag shagging that’s helping fuel it. Even in America.
😂 here is a typical work schedule for the average state sponsored internet bot farmer:
reform/far right on mondays wednesdays and fridays, indyref tuesdays and thursdays
I’m pretty sure there’s a foreign bot account posting for every single political position out there- but they’ll focus on these ones the most because that’s how they can demonize the entire independence movement.
If you ever wonder why UKDJ posts so much about Independence, be aware it’s essentially a one man operation based in Glasgow. George crowd sources articles from defence personnel and edits them, which is why so much of it’s analysis about Russia, Iran and North Korea somehow end up being about Scottish Independence.
Which is not to say it’s inaccurate, his volunteers really do remarkably good work, and when it’s about Admiralty infighting or forces scandals it’s superb, but if George can edit a story to be about Independence, then he will.
Twitter has always been 90% bots, Since Elon took over its closer to 99% now Just look at essentially anything even vaguely “political”.
Foreign interference seems to be totally fine so long as it’s pro-indy.
Putin pissing about in 2014 wouldn’t have been any issue whatsoever had the vote returned Yes.
Any movement which challenges the status quo will be smeared as being backed by a foreign power.
Who gives a fuck if some bots linked in some way to Iran puts some tweets out? Their impact upon public opinion is neglibible at most.
Just to clarify that “UK defence journal” is not some legit news source but a one-man ultra-British nationalist blog run by a roaster who you’d cross the street to avoid.
Yeah, a Strong independent Scotland taking its place alongside it’s Northern European neighbours like Norway, Sweden and Finland would not be to Russia’s benefit.
Much better to have Scotland as a region of a London centric UK where vast sums of Russian money slopped around and where…….”in London, money rules everyone,” a Russian magnate told the journalist Catherine Belton. “Anyone and anything can be bought.”
‘But after FBI investigations, congressional intelligence reports and dozens of journalistic investigations, we have confirmation from the US Army itself that Brexit was the first step in Putin’s ‘information blitzkrieg’
God not this again. This barely passes as news when the only time I hear from UKDJ is about scary Iranian Bots posting in favour of Scottish Independence.
Iran and Russia will sponsor this type of activity, any disruption/destabilisation to UK politics is seen as a win in their eyes.
It is unsurprising that pro Indy, Pro Brexit and any of the anti-immigrant accounts are from bad actors based in unfriendly nations.
For a wan man zoomer show that “UK Defence Journal” guy is getting a lot of coverage on reddit and on vlogs and podcasts. It’s kind of like when neil whits his face pops up as some kind of authority on Scotland.
I’m sure it’ll be listed as an unreliable source with whoever makes such lists
Christ the dismissive comments in here deflecting by saying both sides doing this sounds like they’re coming from a bot farm. Are heavy pro indie folk unable to critically examine anything at all that might be uncomfortable for their side of the aisle?
Foreign entities trying to destabilise and weaken western nations? Le gasp!
Shouldn’t be a surprise… Scottish independence would be a massive win for all the enemies of the west (Russia, Iran and China). Just due to how damaging economically it would be, and the fact it would likely be controlled by anti NATO and military types, that would weaken NATO.
Maybe if independence was led by right wing massively pro military types, but it isn’t. Far more led by people that look at Ireland and think their way of barely contributing to western security and leeching off Britain and rest of Europe, is the way forward.
Yeah there’s bots on all sides. Hell you post anything pro Indy on some comments section and there’s a very particular bot swarm I keep encountering.
It’s a real problem.
People also make money from sharing all kind of fake news/stories and through stirring emotions, as engagement increases profit —>
I’m going to keep saying this over and over since it keeps coming up. Does Iran, Russia and many other countries want Scotland to leave the UK? Of course. Does it make sense that at least some of them would take actions to make that more likely? Of course. Does that take away from the fact a substantial amount of people in Scotland want independence? Absolutely not.
I have no doubt this is going to be pushed heavily by certain groups who want to try and undermine the independence movement despite the fact anyone who actually lives in Scotland can tell you there is plenty of support for Independence right here in Scotland proven by the results of the first referendum, every poll taken since and the continued popularity of the SNP. Bots from a hostile country also pushing independence (for different but obvious reasons) is not the smoking gun you seem to think it is.
A lot of Unionist advertisment comes from outside Scotland also.
Nats just going to ignore this as usual lmao
Iran and Russia would love the uk to split and an independent Scotland
This does not invalidate scottish independence as a cause, and safe to say, always be vigilant of pisstakers online.
I’m half-Iranian and pro-Indy. Figures.
Given /u/paximperia is in the comments, I thought I’d raise a point not discussed in the article. I follow a couple of podcasts (in French, sorry – [Le Collimateur](https://lerubicon.org/type-publication/le-collimateur/) and [Propagations](https://shows.acast.com/propagations)) with a mix of military people & academics being interviewed on, among other things, these types of manipulations so I’m quite interested.
It does look like you have identified an op but you then pivot to quoting Graeme Downie, MP saying:
> this report shows the extent to which the debate is being influenced by unfriendly countries
and then go on to, in your own voice, reaffirm the point
> the presence of synthetic Scottish personas (…) distorts the perceived scale and tone of public opinion
I had a look at the accounts you linked to and they all have between 600 and 2k followers and seem to retweet each other (and post the most boring slogan + stock photo with lots of saltires, but that’s beside the point). Have you tried to evaluate how many of these followers are legitimate accounts and not bots? Have you tried to look at what their actual reach is and whether they do indeed “distort perceived scale and tone of public opinion”?
Ukdefencejournal = sockpuppet
Innit ironic?
Their crap state television was very pro indy back in 2014. I always wondered why, but you can see it was a half arsed concerted effort as twitter is blocked on regular internet connections over there so it COULD ONLY come from a state PC.
Very few political accounts are genuine. Many are being exposed, especially those who sow discontent like independence or far-right politics.
Something that the indy movement needs to ask itself is why a foreign state, intrinsically hostile to democracy and western civilisation, has latched onto supporting Scottish independence. What makes Scottish independence attractive to an Islamist dictatorship that violently oppresses women, homosexuals, and minorities?
UK government:
> The UK government is secretly paying foreign YouTube stars to publish “propaganda” videos, Declassified can reveal.
> A three-year investigation has found that online influencers are made to sign legal contracts banning them from disclosing the government’s involvement.
> Whitehall officials give “feedback” on each video before the influencers are allowed to publish them.
46 comments
Bet the ones on reddit will be downvoting this
Surely not. I’m shocked.
Of course there are. Same with brexit, tons of bots flooded social media during both the Scottish Indyref and the brexit referendum.
And it’s never stopped. Russia is by far the biggest culprit though both Iran and China have been involved as well.
This shouldnt be a surprise at this point. Almost everyone of these movements are designed to weaken the UK and USA from within, I mentioned it on my previous comment but its by design.
Useful idiots is a term for a reason. Since WW2 America basically made sure no one can physically defeat them or their allies, the only way we will all fall is from infighting and division in politics etc.
Who’da thunk it.
Are the Iranians (all four of them) in the room with us right now?
There will be accounts from all over trying to upset the systems. What other pro or anti something accounts are being run from? Russia/Israel/India. Twitter is 100% manipulation.
I think it’s safe to say that anything politics related will be inundated with bots, the same bot farms will be pushing both sides of any and all arguments as the aim is not for any side to “win” but to destabilise and sow discourse.
I know it’s hard but don’t argue with bots or random people on the internet. I say this knowing that half the responces at least will be from Bots.
What Twitter accounts _aren’t_ bots? Dead Internet theory is real.
Of course there are, as are many unionist ones.
The US just had lots of MAGA accounts shown at bots or foreign as well, which is why Musk has hidden their origins again.
If everyone could actually see where they were based it would actually make politics so much better.
This shouldn’t be a surprise tbh.
There are major high profile accounts on X that are obviously real people
But you can spotthe pro Indy, pro UK,pro Brexit, MAGA, pro Palestine, pro Israel, pro Russia, antifa, pro Ukraine and many more geopolitical bot accounts from a mile away.
The splitting up of any group of western nations is obviously beneficial for Russia and other eastern nations.
Mental that it’s playing on the lowest common denominators flag shagging that’s helping fuel it. Even in America.
😂 here is a typical work schedule for the average state sponsored internet bot farmer:
reform/far right on mondays wednesdays and fridays, indyref tuesdays and thursdays
Now check the posts referencing Trans issues.
اتحادیهگرایان را باور نکنید
Never forget
https://preview.redd.it/zv9bzzpe213g1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ee627b68eb6b158583ee9b2ee16c5964414adc02
I’m pretty sure there’s a foreign bot account posting for every single political position out there- but they’ll focus on these ones the most because that’s how they can demonize the entire independence movement.
If you ever wonder why UKDJ posts so much about Independence, be aware it’s essentially a one man operation based in Glasgow. George crowd sources articles from defence personnel and edits them, which is why so much of it’s analysis about Russia, Iran and North Korea somehow end up being about Scottish Independence.
Which is not to say it’s inaccurate, his volunteers really do remarkably good work, and when it’s about Admiralty infighting or forces scandals it’s superb, but if George can edit a story to be about Independence, then he will.
Twitter has always been 90% bots, Since Elon took over its closer to 99% now Just look at essentially anything even vaguely “political”.
Foreign interference seems to be totally fine so long as it’s pro-indy.
Putin pissing about in 2014 wouldn’t have been any issue whatsoever had the vote returned Yes.
Any movement which challenges the status quo will be smeared as being backed by a foreign power.
Who gives a fuck if some bots linked in some way to Iran puts some tweets out? Their impact upon public opinion is neglibible at most.
Just to clarify that “UK defence journal” is not some legit news source but a one-man ultra-British nationalist blog run by a roaster who you’d cross the street to avoid.
Yeah, a Strong independent Scotland taking its place alongside it’s Northern European neighbours like Norway, Sweden and Finland would not be to Russia’s benefit.
Much better to have Scotland as a region of a London centric UK where vast sums of Russian money slopped around and where…….”in London, money rules everyone,” a Russian magnate told the journalist Catherine Belton. “Anyone and anything can be bought.”
‘But after FBI investigations, congressional intelligence reports and dozens of journalistic investigations, we have confirmation from the US Army itself that Brexit was the first step in Putin’s ‘information blitzkrieg’
https://bylinetimes.com/2022/03/08/putin-plot-against-great-britain-and-how-he-got-away-with-it/
God not this again. This barely passes as news when the only time I hear from UKDJ is about scary Iranian Bots posting in favour of Scottish Independence.
Iran and Russia will sponsor this type of activity, any disruption/destabilisation to UK politics is seen as a win in their eyes.
It is unsurprising that pro Indy, Pro Brexit and any of the anti-immigrant accounts are from bad actors based in unfriendly nations.
For a wan man zoomer show that “UK Defence Journal” guy is getting a lot of coverage on reddit and on vlogs and podcasts. It’s kind of like when neil whits his face pops up as some kind of authority on Scotland.
I’m sure it’ll be listed as an unreliable source with whoever makes such lists
Christ the dismissive comments in here deflecting by saying both sides doing this sounds like they’re coming from a bot farm. Are heavy pro indie folk unable to critically examine anything at all that might be uncomfortable for their side of the aisle?
Foreign entities trying to destabilise and weaken western nations? Le gasp!
Shouldn’t be a surprise… Scottish independence would be a massive win for all the enemies of the west (Russia, Iran and China). Just due to how damaging economically it would be, and the fact it would likely be controlled by anti NATO and military types, that would weaken NATO.
Maybe if independence was led by right wing massively pro military types, but it isn’t. Far more led by people that look at Ireland and think their way of barely contributing to western security and leeching off Britain and rest of Europe, is the way forward.
Yeah there’s bots on all sides. Hell you post anything pro Indy on some comments section and there’s a very particular bot swarm I keep encountering.
It’s a real problem.
People also make money from sharing all kind of fake news/stories and through stirring emotions, as engagement increases profit —>
How X users can earn thousands from US election misinformation and AI images
[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2dpj485nno](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2dpj485nno)
UK migrant crisis fury stoked by man in Sri Lanka making thousands from fake news
[https://www.msn.com/en-gb/society-culture-and-history/race-and-racial-identity/uk-migrant-crisis-fury-stoked-by-man-in-sri-lanka-making-thousands-from-fake-news/ar-AA1QBuhO](https://www.msn.com/en-gb/society-culture-and-history/race-and-racial-identity/uk-migrant-crisis-fury-stoked-by-man-in-sri-lanka-making-thousands-from-fake-news/ar-AA1QBuhO)
Right, now do Reform
Why do yoons constantly post this garbage
I’m going to keep saying this over and over since it keeps coming up. Does Iran, Russia and many other countries want Scotland to leave the UK? Of course. Does it make sense that at least some of them would take actions to make that more likely? Of course. Does that take away from the fact a substantial amount of people in Scotland want independence? Absolutely not.
I have no doubt this is going to be pushed heavily by certain groups who want to try and undermine the independence movement despite the fact anyone who actually lives in Scotland can tell you there is plenty of support for Independence right here in Scotland proven by the results of the first referendum, every poll taken since and the continued popularity of the SNP. Bots from a hostile country also pushing independence (for different but obvious reasons) is not the smoking gun you seem to think it is.
A lot of Unionist advertisment comes from outside Scotland also.
Nats just going to ignore this as usual lmao
Iran and Russia would love the uk to split and an independent Scotland
This does not invalidate scottish independence as a cause, and safe to say, always be vigilant of pisstakers online.
I’m half-Iranian and pro-Indy. Figures.
Given /u/paximperia is in the comments, I thought I’d raise a point not discussed in the article. I follow a couple of podcasts (in French, sorry – [Le Collimateur](https://lerubicon.org/type-publication/le-collimateur/) and [Propagations](https://shows.acast.com/propagations)) with a mix of military people & academics being interviewed on, among other things, these types of manipulations so I’m quite interested.
It does look like you have identified an op but you then pivot to quoting Graeme Downie, MP saying:
> this report shows the extent to which the debate is being influenced by unfriendly countries
and then go on to, in your own voice, reaffirm the point
> the presence of synthetic Scottish personas (…) distorts the perceived scale and tone of public opinion
I had a look at the accounts you linked to and they all have between 600 and 2k followers and seem to retweet each other (and post the most boring slogan + stock photo with lots of saltires, but that’s beside the point). Have you tried to evaluate how many of these followers are legitimate accounts and not bots? Have you tried to look at what their actual reach is and whether they do indeed “distort perceived scale and tone of public opinion”?
Ukdefencejournal = sockpuppet
Innit ironic?
Their crap state television was very pro indy back in 2014. I always wondered why, but you can see it was a half arsed concerted effort as twitter is blocked on regular internet connections over there so it COULD ONLY come from a state PC.
Very few political accounts are genuine. Many are being exposed, especially those who sow discontent like independence or far-right politics.
Something that the indy movement needs to ask itself is why a foreign state, intrinsically hostile to democracy and western civilisation, has latched onto supporting Scottish independence. What makes Scottish independence attractive to an Islamist dictatorship that violently oppresses women, homosexuals, and minorities?
UK government:
> The UK government is secretly paying foreign YouTube stars to publish “propaganda” videos, Declassified can reveal.
> A three-year investigation has found that online influencers are made to sign legal contracts banning them from disclosing the government’s involvement.
> Whitehall officials give “feedback” on each video before the influencers are allowed to publish them.
~ [UK Government Secretly Paid Foreign Youtube Stars for ‘propaganda’](https://www.declassifieduk.org/uk-government-secretly-paid-foreign-youtube-stars-for-propaganda/)
Comments are closed.