Leak of classified papers ahead of UK election tied to Russian operation - Reddit

[rooster59]

Leak of classified papers ahead of UK election tied to Russian operation - Reddit

By Jack Stubbs

 

FILE PHOTO: Britain's opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn holds up documents as he poses for a picture with NHS staff, after a press briefing during a general election campaign event in London, Britain November 27, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

 

LONDON (Reuters) - The leak and distribution of classified UK-U.S. trade documents online is tied to a previous Russian disinformation campaign, social media site Reddit said on Friday, fuelling fears that Moscow is seeking to interfere in Britain's upcoming election.

 

Britain's opposition Labour Party seized on the leaked documents on Nov. 27, saying they showed the ruling Conservatives were plotting to offer the state-run National Health Service (NHS) for sale in trade talks with Washington.

 

The NHS is much loved by Britons and has become an important issue in the country's election campaign, in which Labour trails the Conservatives despite cutting its lead in some polls.

 

But researchers told Reuters on Monday that the way the documents were first shared on Reddit and then promoted online closely resembled a disinformation campaign uncovered earlier this year.

 

That operation -- known as Secondary Infektion -- attempted to spread false narratives across at least 30 online platforms, and stemmed from a network of social media accounts which Facebook said "originated in Russia."

 

"We were recently made aware of a post on Reddit that included leaked documents from the UK," Reddit said in a statement. "We investigated this account and the accounts connected to it, and today we believe this was part of a campaign that has been reported as originating from Russia."

 

The company said it had identified and suspended 61 accounts which attempted to further promote the leaked papers.

 

"All of these accounts have the same shared pattern as the original Secondary Infektion group detected, causing us to believe that this was indeed tied to the original group," it said.

 

A Labour spokesman declined to comment on how the party obtained the leaked documents or ties to the Russian campaign.

 

"These documents reveal the plot against our NHS. And of course neither the UK nor the U.S. government have denied their authenticity," he said. "Our releasing them to journalists was clearly in the public interest."

 

The British government said in a statement it was "already looking into the matter" with support from the National Cyber Security Centre, part of the GCHQ signals intelligence agency.

 

"Online platforms should take responsibility for content posted on them, and we welcome the action Reddit have taken today," it said.

 

Britain goes to the polls next week in an election called by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to try to break the Brexit deadlock in parliament more than three years since the country voted to leave the European Union.

 

The country's security agencies have warned that Russia and other countries may attempt to disrupt the vote with cyberattacks or divisive political messages on social media.

 

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied allegations of election meddling. Officials in Moscow were not immediately available for comment after hours on Friday.

 

(Reporting by Jack Stubbs; Additional reporting by Raphael Satter in Washington; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-12-07

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[sammieuk1]

Russian interference is absurd no one knows what any of these clowns are up to in this circus???? 

[NanLaew]

17 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

Russian interference is absurd no one knows what any of these clowns are up to in this circus???? 

How can an unknown be absurd?

[wombat]

2 hours ago, NanLaew said:

How can an unknown be absurd?

this is a known and it is absurd it hasn't been talked about by anyone, politician or media.
its the elephant in the room.

[Emdog]

"These documents reveal the plot against our NHS. And of course neither the UK nor the U.S. government have denied their authenticity,"

 Silence sometimes can speak volumes.

[puipuitom]

2 hours ago, wombat said:

this is a known and it is absurd it hasn't been talked about by anyone, politician or media.
its the elephant in the room.

So, what the minority in these 406 constituencies or the minority in the 242 others want: the F .ck. Even when the people's vote gives an other result !  British democracy ! !

[from the home of CC]

 the UK tax payers are the real losers in all this but like in all big governments nobody gives a rats ass..

[Baerboxer]

48 minutes ago, puipuitom said:

So, what the minority in these 406 constituencies or the minority in the 242 others want: the F .ck. Even when the people's vote gives an other result !  British democracy ! !

Your wasting your time. The hardened Brexiters haven't got a clue how their own parliamentary democracy and constitution should work. Nor do they care.

[Loiner]

29 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

Your wasting your time. The hardened Brexiters haven't got a clue how their own parliamentary democracy and constitution should work. Nor do they care.

They care a lot and want the deplorable situation to be righted. The whole system is not working as it should, as it has been manipulated by vested Remainer interests. Much of its' current 'broken' status is due to legislation of a previous government, which will be corrected when the Tories have a working majority and bring broad constitutional reforms . 

[Thingamabob]

What a load of BS about such an unimportant issue. The NHS will not in any way be sold and the Russian game has been known about for years. Next....

[melvinmelvin]

 

wouldna call NHS an unimportant issue, too many unwell Brexiteers and <deleted> around for that

 

 

[Tug]

Take great care with this issue do not let them wreck your health care system it’s a mess here to me it seems designed to rob you of your life’s work then let you die and my comments are not a reflection of the good and noble people that work in the field it is directed at the system 

[kingdong]

2 hours ago, melvinmelvin said:

 

wouldna call NHS an unimportant issue, too many unwell Brexiteers and <deleted> around for that

 

 

I can,t wait till next week when we finally leave the eu

[melvinmelvin]

 

ain't gonna happen next week, might happen somewhat further into the future though

 

being optimistic is good

guess both leavers and remainers are optimistic

 

 

[Thongkorn]

Dont understand why Britain just not do back to Russia and the rest of the Countries that cyber attack Britain , Britain  has the capability to return the favour of hacking and miss information.

[looking on the bright side]

It seems to be another example of  anti-Brexit tactic, and indeed sounds absurd. What has happened to Jeremy Corbin that turned him pro remain  ? 

[BestB]

22 hours ago, keith101 said:

Putin wants to put in power someone he believes that he can control just like Trump .

Yes Putin the God????????.

 

i thought Russians were inferior in all aspects , turns out Russians are superior enough to instal anyone they like as a president or PM of any country .

[BestB]

8 hours ago, Thongkorn said:

Dont understand why Britain just not do back to Russia and the rest of the Countries that cyber attack Britain , Britain  has the capability to return the favour of hacking and miss information.

Britain is only tough enough to meddle in African countries or falling apart Arab countries ????????????

[NanLaew]

23 hours ago, wombat said:

this is a known and it is absurd it hasn't been talked about by anyone, politician or media.
its the elephant in the room.

I think that's what been happening over the past two and half years or so, albeit by their peers and not the electorate.

 

I recall reading that early research indicated that there was not any notable or significant disparity between how A ) a constituency voted in the referendum, and B ) how their MP voted on subsequent Brexit bills in parliament. The myth that a huge amount of MP's were ignoring those who elected them was thus proved.

 

The fact that the Brexit referendum constituencies were not exactly the same as the electoral constituencies went towards creating this non-issue.

[NanLaew]

3 hours ago, looking on the bright side said:

It seems to be another example of  anti-Brexit tactic, and indeed sounds absurd. What has happened to Jeremy Corbin that turned him pro remain  ? 

Vacillation?

 

That and trying to dodge the ignominy of being the least popular Labour leader since Michael Foot anyway.

[DannyCarlton]

14 hours ago, kingdong said:

I can,t wait till next week when we finally leave the eu

I thought you left on October 31st? Or was it last March?

[NanLaew]

On 12/7/2019 at 1:45 PM, wombat said:

this is a known and it is absurd it hasn't been talked about by anyone, politician or media.
its the elephant in the room.

I found the crib notes from my earlier 'research'.

 

"EU Referendum reminder.

By constituency    : 406 Leave, 242 remain.
By voting area    : 263 Leave, 119 remain.
By constituent country - England    : 53.0% leave,     46.6% remain.
By constituent country - N Ireland    : 44.2% leave,     55.8% remain.
By constituent country - Scotland    : 38.0% leave,     62.0% remain.
By constituent country - Wales        : 52.5% leave,     47.5& remain.
By party seat - Labour    : 148 Leave, 84 remain.
By party seat - Tory    : 247 leave, 80 remain.
By party seat - Lib Dem    : 2 leave, 7 remain.  
By MP    : 248 Leave, 400 Remain.

 

Unless you're Northern Irish, Scottish, Lib Dem or an MP, I still can't see any real right to revoke or do-over anything."