Faking an owned or social media account is wrong
The Conservative Party changed its Twitter account to @FactCheckUK during the ITV Leaders Debate. It’s plainly wrong.
I was out for dinner with the Metia management team last night when my phone lit up.
The Conservative Party switched the name and logo on its Twitter account to factcheckUK. It coincided with the televised Leader’s debate on ITV between Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson.
Several organisations have been established since the EU Referendum in 2016 to debunk disinformation. @FullFact is an independent fact checking charity. @FactCheck is a service provided by Channel 4 News.
Throughout the debate the Conservative Party factcheckUK called out Corbyn and praised Johnson. After the debate it called a win for the Prime Minister.
The deception by the Conservative Party was outrageous. It makes a farce of Twitter’s governance and verification.
Faking or impersonating an owner or social media account is plainly wrong. Twitter itself has called the Conservative Party and threatened sanctions if it repeats the behaviour in the future.
The CIPR and PRCA have both been critical of the approach. My wife Sarah Waddington is recent Past President of the CIPR.
“This is a deeply cynical and unpleasant ploy by the Conservative Party at a time when trust in political organisations is at all time low and disinformation is at all time high.
“Political campaigns should follow the Government’s own communication guidance on disinformation.”
