American dirty tricks are corroding British democracy

[Denzil_DC]

Super PACs in the US are notorious for smear campaigns and disinformation – now we're seeing them in the UK election. Be careful where you take your phone.
...
How they are shaping this election

Up and down the country, we’re beginning to see something a lot like Super PACs shaping this UK election.

They aren’t all on the same side. By far the biggest spender on Facebook ads is the pro-EU group Best for Britain, which has thrown nearly three-quarters of a million pounds at sponsored posts over the past year. The legal limit for non-party spending on election campaigning for the year before the vote is £480,000 – though, as Best for Britain points out, many of its ads are non-partisan voter registration messages, which don’t count.

On the other side of the Brexit rift, Leave.EU quickly established almost as much Facebook traction as Labour. With nearly a million Facebook likes, the group – founded by the millionaires Arron Banks and Richard Tice – pillories pro-EU politicians. Like America’s most notorious Super PACs, it courts controversy, incites rage and drives debate.

In a recent post – shared 7,000 times – the pro-Tory group reused an image of refugees from a notorious poster unveiled by Nigel Farage during the Brexit referendum, an image widely compared to Nazi propaganda.



https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/american-dirty-tricks-are-corroding-our-democracy/

[C_U_L8R]

1. Formerly known as Russian dirty tricks.

[SterlingPound]

2. I find it ABSOLUTELY patetic that anyone could believe any of this

but ...

Trump

[T_i_B]

3. Lots of dodgy ads on Facebook, YouTube etc right now

But the attack ads from strange organisations you've never heard of but almost certainly related to the Conservative Party have been a feature of this election. Usually scaremongering about Jeremy Corbyn.

[whathehell]

4. Oh please, Denzil..

I'm sure the UK has a long, proud history of its own dirty tricks.

[T_i_B]

5. Dodgy US style attack ads are a new thing here

It's been a major part of this election.

Oh for the days when the main parties put more effort into leafletting and canvassing than misleading tripe on Farcebook.

[whathehell]

6. A new style of "dodgy", perhaps

but according to my European friends, political dodginess is both old
and universal.
I'm old enough to remember Margaret Thatcher in office and I do recall seeing some viciously sexist graphic representations of her showing up at demonstrations.

[Denzil_DC]

7. Of course there's a history of political dirty tricks in the UK.

In the past, they've been attributable to the political parties.

The point of the article is that these lines of responsiblity have become progressively blurred in recent times, for the reasons it goes into, and dark money is playing a greater and greater role.

[whathehell]

8. Of course..

so what's with the "American style attack 'corroding'" your democracy about?
I don't know how much our "style" of attack would be responsible for your problems, but if it's a style you've chosen to adopt, the responsibility would lie with you.

[Denzil_DC]

9. Maybe read the article ...? n/t

[whathehell]

10. Maybe get a sense of humor...? n/t

[Denzil_DC]

11. Perhaps you'll forgive me.

The exit polls released in the last few minutes are predicting a resounding Tory majority, so I'm not much in the mood for teasing.

My own corner of the country is projected to have returned 55 SNP MPs out of 59. It's not much consolation, but I guess it would have to do.

[whathehell]

12. I do

and hope you don't feel quite as bad as we did on November 4, 2016.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but getting rid of a bad PM in your country seems an easier process than getting rid of a bad President in ours.
You have that, at least.