The refusal of the government to publish the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee report into Russian interference is a strong indication that this problem is more serious than is generally realised. There is no question that the Russians tried to influence the outcome of the EU referendum and the 2017 election - what the report may show is to what extent they succeeded. Let's be clear what is at stake here. There has been effectively an ongoing economic conflict between the rules based Single Market and the system of kleptocracy that prevailed in states in the former Soviet Union. Since the nineties the rules based system has won victory after victory taking it up to the borders of Russia. Putin is fighting a rearguard action and, in an astonishing turn of good fortune for him and his cronies, Brexit has enabled him to open up a new front. Unfortunately for democracy in this country the objectives of the Russians and our current government coincide so these bots are doing everything they can to secure a Conservative majority with their main focus ironically to persuade people not to vote for the Brexit Party. I say ironically because it is likely that in part the Brexit Party was mid-wifed by the Russians. Google, Twitter and Facebook are not getting a strong message about dealing with this interference from the government because the government are benefiting from it. The opposition are little better because the position of their leadership with regard to Russia is also highly compromised. Therefore interference seems to be just as bad in the 2019 as it was in previous elections and the referendum. It always strikes me as strange how people who bank on about national sovereignty often seem so relaxed about an attempt by a hostile foreign power to undermine the democratic process in this country.

Entire Thread

Topic	Date Posted	Posted By
Russian Bots Targeting Brentford and Isleworth seat?	03/11/19 09:19:00	Dan Evans
Re:Russian Bots Targeting Brentford and Isleworth seat?	03/11/19 09:25:00	Iris Hill
Re:Re:Russian Bots Targeting Brentford and Isleworth seat?	03/11/19 09:29:00	Paul Corcoran
Re:Re:Re:Russian Bots Targeting Brentford and Isleworth seat?	03/11/19 11:11:00	Francis Rowe
Re:Re:Re:Re:Russian Bots Targeting Brentford and Isleworth seat?	03/11/19 12:22:00	Iris Hill
Re:Russian Bots Targeting Brentford and Isleworth seat?	03/11/19 12:51:00	Bobbie Carnegie
Spotting a bot	04/11/19 08:20:00	Mark Evans
Re:Spotting a bot	06/11/19 07:47:00	Francis Rowe
Re:Re:Spotting a bot	06/11/19 09:04:00	Alan Clark
Reply	09/11/19 09:56:00	Kevin Howard

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