On 19 Nov there was a coordinated campaign of over 300 tweets, comprised of accounts which look genuine and some which seem to be bots.

Who initiated this campaign and who deployed these accounts to push for online censorship?

This is a thread containing some information, some questions, and not many firm answers. The campaign was clumsy enough to be spotted, and it was interestingly timed.

Also 19 Nov, MP Damian Collins took part in a debate about #OnlineHarms https://twitter.com/DamianCollins/status/1329795289033674754?s=20

On 18 November Damian Collins had posed a question about social media companies proactively taking down anti-vaccination information, as part of the controversial ‘Online Harms Bill’. Matt Hancock agreed.

Interestingly, Damian Philips is the co-founder of @infotagion, a Covid fact-checking service.

Also on 19 Nov Met Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu called for a debate on the introduction of new laws to punish people who spread anti-vaccination conspiracy theories: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/met-police-terrorism-coronavirus-anti-vaxxers-b73161.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1605707141

In the spirit of online censorship, on 20 Nov, Carl Heneghan and Tom Jefferson’s article in The Spectator was censored on Facebook. 

It did not contain false information. This is the current state of censorship before the bill. https://twitter.com/BigBrotherWatch/status/1329873975434993665?s=20

If we’re talking about #OnlineHarms, let’s talk about coordinated social media propaganda campaigns. Who deployed this bot network and why? Is it an attempt to influence public opinion and therefore policy?

Who is to be the arbiter of truth and censorship?

We need answers.