Alleged Russian interference in the General Election campaign is “gravely concerning”, Oliver Dowden has said.
The Deputy Prime Minister responded to Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) claims that it had been monitoring five co-ordinated Facebook pages spouting Kremlin talking points, with some expressing support for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party.
In a statement carried by The Sunday Times, Mr Dowden said: “These revelations reveal the real risk our democracy faces in this uncertain world.
“Malign foreign actors, promoting British political parties, policies and views that fit their agenda is just another example of the challenges in the increasingly volatile cyberspace of the 21st century and is gravely concerning to see during an election campaign.”
According to ABC, the pages appeared to have little in common but were linked through an examination of the location data attached to the pages’ administrators, the tracking of paid ads, and an analysis of the pages’ similar or shared content.
The network of pages has a combined 190,000 followers, each featuring criticism of several UK political parties, including the Conservatives and Labour, the ABC says.
The broadcaster also reportedly found most of the administrators for each page are based in Nigeria, which is a significant connection as previous online Russian propaganda networks were found to have been operating from Africa.
The Sunday Times reports Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden has written to Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, and Sir Tim Barrow, the national security adviser, asking for the claims to be investigated.
It comes as both the Tories and Labour have criticised Mr Farage for failing to show leadership in tackling allegations of racism within Reform UK.
Campaigners for Mr Farage’s party Reform UK in the Clacton seat in Essex he hopes to win were recorded by an undercover journalist from Channel 4 making racist comments, including about the Prime Minister, who is of Indian descent.
The footage showed Reform campaigner Andrew Parker using a racist term about Rishi Sunak and suggesting migrants should be used as “target practice”.
Another canvasser described the Pride flag as “degenerate” and suggested members of the LGBT community are paedophiles.
Reform UK has written to the Electoral Commission, claiming that Mr Parker, an actor, was a “plant” in the Channel 4 news item.
Mr Farage said the Clacton expose was “a political set-up of astonishing proportions”, highlighting Mr Parker’s background as an actor.
He added he was “not going to apologise” as what had happened was a “set-up, a deliberate attempt to smear us”.
Meanwhile, Reform has confirmed it has dropped support for candidates Leslie Lilley in Southend East and Rochford, Edward Oakenfull in Derbyshire Dales, and Robert Lomas in Barnsley North.
On BBC Question Time, Mr Farage was challenged about the three’s comments and said, “In most cases, they’ve been disowned.”
The three will still appear as Reform candidates on the ballot paper because nominations for the July 4 poll have closed.