Keyboard shortcuts are available for common actions and site navigation.
[Thread]1/ This one is about the fake news claiming that a sick boy on the floor of a hospital in leeds was staged by his mother. We know the story is real, Dr Yvette Oade, chief medical officer at Leeds even apologisedhttps://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-50713236…
2/ Firstly, the bots and sock puppet accounts are on the case on Twitter. As you can see, an identical tweet claiming the mother staged the photo was circulated on Twitter. It's literally copied and pasted, and the accounts are targeting it at various influencerspic.twitter.com/OtdfBnRKnw
3/ Even more alarming is on Facebook. The exact same tweet is mentioned on dozens of fairly dodgy looking FB accounts. What's more, is that some of these posts are pasted into groups where they get liked and commented on, often by people who seem to believe it ... #bbcqtpic.twitter.com/Ov5CRJN97h
4/ In one example, Jason Crosby pastes the tweet on the FB group for "Seaham Have Your Say". Seaham have your say is a page with 24k followers serving the North Eastern coastal town of Seaham. His post gets 91 comments and 26 shares.pic.twitter.com/kgW3x31a57
5/ This one is even more egregious. The fake news post on the group March Cambridgeshire Free Discussion with 37k members has 235 comments and 28 shares. You can see the comments here, https://www.facebook.com/groups/550171758376588/permalink/2738102966250112/ … - many call out the fakeness, others seem to believe it...pic.twitter.com/Yv6LSOkzbb
6/ It's interesting to note that in addition to targeting national level Facebook groups, a lot of these accounts are targeting influential local Facebook groups such as that of Cambridgeshire and Seaham. We know the role local FB groups are said to play in this election
7/ Meanwhile, back on Twitter, @Telegraph columnist @allisonpearson retweeted the copy and pasted tweet (of course in theory the text could still be genuine - but if so why is is circulated by weird sock puppets). Pearson 'presumes it is genuine'.pic.twitter.com/BwqdTrdrvk
8/ It's 3.20 am here and I'm tired but I'll wager @allisonpearson is perhaps the most influential proponent of the faked floor theory. Stay tuned for her expose in the telegraph. I hope she interviewed the senior nursing sister! Night all ! https://twitter.com/allisonpearson/status/1204160375505268740 …pic.twitter.com/ZfH4u1jUzQ
9/ Last one. Interestingly @allisonpearson 'a retweet of what looks like a bot was then retweeted by @Fox_Claire (albeit with more caveats - not that it matters really) . Goes to show how potentially fake accounts and news can spread so insidiouspic.twitter.com/M3RFg5C3AV
10/ Important Update! Former England Cricketer @KP24 has tweeted to his over 3 million followers the same copy and paste fake news story perpetuating the myth that the boy on the hospital floor photo was staged. Crisis mode! Also good morning #GE19
pic.twitter.com/R0igVUZr9C
Thing is, no matter what the context is for the sick boy in hospital, it's still the shocking truth that the Prime Minister pocketed a reporter's phone in an attempt to stop the reporter asking him to empathize with the suffering of a child.
With only two days remaining in the campaign, I would focus the public's attention on that window into the PM's character. "I'm sorry for having taken your phone." No amount of spin can fix that. Their only hope is to bury it.
![](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="73" height="73"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)