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AFP
London
Russian-linked fake social media accounts have systematically attempted to amplify social division in Britain around the terror attacks of the past year, according to a new study released Monday.
Researchers at Cardiff University trawled through 30 million datapoints to identify at least 47 accounts on Twitter and Facebook used to"influence and interfere with public debate" following four British terrorist atrocities in 2017.
The team found the most active accounts posted hundreds of incendiary and Islamophobic messages shortly after the attacks in Manchester and London, which users shared more than 153,000 times.
"The evidence suggests a systematic strategic political communications campaign being directed at the UK designed to amplify the public harms of terrorist attacks," the researchers concluded. The study cited eight accounts, built around"personal identities, clear ideological standpoints", and which were"highly opinionated", as most effective.
They would begin posting inflammatory messages less than an hour after incidents, generating thousands of retweets.
