The COVID Diaries – 143 23rd August
The Independent reports:
The Conservative Party used disinformation tactics with a “new level of impunity” during last year’s general election, a report has found.
Researchers from King’s College London warned that the campaign had risked undermining public trust during the coronavirus pandemic.
Their report said Tories had “employed overt disinformation” to secure votes, such as by altering a video of Sir Keir Starmer by and posing as a fact-checker on Twiter during a leaders’ debate.
“Even if some of these tactics are not novel, the impunity with which they were employed appears new, at least in the UK,” it added.
“When found out, Conservative Party representatives were unapologetic for rebranding their Twitter account as a fact-checking site, and for editing video footage of the interview with Sir Keir.”