Скачать или смотреть Disinformation and Smearing in British Politics

One hundred years ago this month, as voters prepared to go to the polls for the third time in two years, British politics was rocked by what would become the most famous ‘dirty trick’ in its long history: the ‘Zinoviev Letter’. The Letter, encouraging the British proletariat to revolutionary fervour, was apparently sent by Grigori Zinoviev, head of the Bolshevik propaganda organization, to the British Communist Party in September 1924. Its publication by the Daily Mail just before the General Election humiliated the first ever Labour government, headed by Ramsay MacDonald, when its political opponents used it to create a 'Red Scare' in the media.

With growing concerns about the impact of AI-driven disinformation on elections around the world, the ‪@MileEndInstitute_QMUL‬ and the Centre for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies marked the Letter's centenary by exploring how disinformation, ‘Fake News’ and smearing have affected, and continue to shape, British politics today.

Dr‪@robertsaunders7586‬ was joined by Dr Gill Bennett (Chief Historian of the ‪@ukforeignoffice‬, 1995-2005), Professor Ciaran Martin (CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre, 2016-2020) and Professor Jean Seaton (Official Historian of the BBC).