Page 8 - ARUBA TODAY

A8 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 21 November 2019
UK Conservatives under fire for Twitter deception in debate

By DANICA KIRKA The Conservatives have
JILL LAWLESS hired New Zealanders Sean
Associated Press Topham and Ben Guerin
LONDON (AP) — Britain's to oversee digital strategy
Conservative Party was ac- and Australian Isaac Levido
cused Wednesday of try- as overall campaign direc-
ing to deceive voters by tor. All three have worked
changing the name of its with Lynton Crosby, an Aus-
press office Twitter account tralian political strategist
to "factcheckUK" during a who has long ties with the
televised election debate, U.K. Conservatives.
raising concerns that politi- The trio have been cred-
cal parties' online trickery is ited with helping Australia's
undermining democracy. Liberal Prime Minister Scott
Rebranding its account to Morrison pull off a surprise
resemble a neutral fact- election victory in May,
checker, complete with a partly with high-volume,
big check mark, the party emotion-tweaking social
posted tweets supporting media activity.
Prime Minister Boris John- "The particular emotions
son during his debate with that we need to unlock
opposition Labour Party are arousal emotions, we're
leader Jeremy Corbyn. It talking anger, excitement,
later reverted to the name In this photo issued by ITV, Jeremy Corbyn, right, and Boris Johnson, during the election head-to- pride, fear," Guerin told a
"CCHQ Press" and restored head debate live on TV, in Salford, Manchester, England, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019. center-right political con-
the party logo to its profile. Associated Press ference after the election.
Organizations that com- that it had "global rules ports urging new regula- The Conservative Party was He said winning "the battle
bat political misinformation in place that prohibit be- tions to combat misinfor- embroiled in controversy of the thumbs" required
cried foul. havior that can mislead mation or regulate the way earlier this month when it frequent posts and varied
"It was misleading and it people." The company digital ads target voters, posted a video on social means — videos, memes
was inappropriate," Will pledged to take "decisive British officials have made media containing a mis- and more — to drive home
Moy, chief executive of the corrective action" if there no significant changes to leading edit of a televi- the same core message.
London-based fact-check- were any more attempts laws governing online ads, sion interview with senior "It's an arms race for who
ing website Full Fact, told "to mislead people by edit- social media and election Labour figure Keir Starmer. can dominate the news
The Associated Press. "It's ing verified profile informa- disinformation. The video had been al- feed," he said.
not what we can see a se- tion," but did not censure In a reflection of the con- tered to show Starmer fail- In their first TV debate of the
rious political party doing.'' the Tories for their account fusion, the Electoral Com- ing to answer a question election on Tuesday, John-
Foreign Secretary Domi- switch. mission, which regulates about Brexit when, in fact, son and Corbyn attacked
nic Raab defended the The manipulation of the ac- campaign finances, issued he responded quickly. The each other's policies on
party's actions, saying the count during a high-profile a statement warning that Conservative Party chair- Brexit, health care and the
Twitter account was clearly event put the rise of digital "voters are entitled to trans- man described the doc- economy.
linked to the Conservatives campaigning squarely in parency and integrity from tored video as lighthearted But the debate likely failed
and asserting that voters the public eye. All political campaigners in the lead- satire. to answer the question that
would not be perturbed by parties are devoting much up to an election.'' Critical- The Conservative Party has dogged the campaign:
"the social media cut and of their campaign spend- ly, however, it pointed out is trying to raise its online Who can voters trust? The
thrust." ing to the digital realm as that it doesn't have "a role game in this election after two leaders sidestepped
"We make no apology for they battle to win the U.K.'s in regulating election cam- being outperformed by La- tricky questions about their
having an instant rebut- Dec. 12 election, bypassing paign content.'' bour during the last cam- own policies in the hour-
tal to all the nonsense and strict laws that govern com- With the absence of law, paign in 2017, when the long encounter and drew
lies put out," Raab told the munication on radio and campaigns have been opposition party exceeded derisive laughter from the
BBC. television. pushing the boundaries to expectations and the Tories studio audience at several
Twitter said in a statement Despite parliamentary re- get attention. stumbled. points.q
In first since 2002, EU not forcing any states to cut debt

legal action against any of to repair their public financ- debts. The commission en-
its members over high bud- es. couraged countries with
get deficits or debt, and is "This is worrying because strong finances, particularly
instead encouraging some very high debt levels limit Germany and the Nether-
to spend more to help the the capacity to respond to lands, to spend more. With
economy. economic shocks and mar- growth slowing, experts say
The EU's executive arm ket pressures," said Valdis governments need to in-
said Wednesday that eight Dombrovskis, the commis- vestment more.
countries were at risk of sion vice president. The European Central Bank
significantly falling short of However, the commission has pressed that point re-
the bloc's aim for a deficit isn't taking legal action peatedly.
European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs
Pierre Moscovici talks to journalists during a news conference below 3% of GDP and debt to push any countries to It unveiled a new stimulus
at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, approaching 60%. tighten finances. It most re- package in September but
Nov. 7, 2019. They include Spain, France, cently did that against Ita- says it can only do so much
Associated Press Belgium and Italy, which it ly, whose last government to help the economy and
Associated Press time since 2002, the Europe- said have not sufficiently had increased spending needs governments to help
BRUSSELS (AP) — For the first an Commission is not taking used good economic times sharply despite its huge as well.q