LABOUR’S election campaign is being boosted by web robots which pump out fake posts backing Jeremy Corbyn, while slating Theresa May and the Tories online.
Bogus accounts are automatically generating thousands of messages a day across social media which trick voters into thinking real people are supporting Mr Corbyn.
They are set up to look like real users but churn out pro-Labour posts and “like” scores of the party’s tweets every hour.
The Daily Telegraph reports one in eight of the messages about British politics on Twitter is generated by the “bots”.
Automated accounts also back other parties, but to a much smaller degree.
Analysis of 1.3million tweets by Oxford University found 21,661 posts supporting Labour were published by “bots” over the course of a week.
Monica Kaminska, who co-authored the study, said: “It is worrying because it has the potential to distort the conversation, it’s megaphoning marginal viewpoints.”
Labour denies being behind the accounts.
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