WorldThe Guardian

Russia did try to interfere in Brexit referendum, head of MI5 confirms

The head of MI5 has confirmed Russia did attempt to interfere in the 2016 Brexit referendum via social media trolls and biased TV coverage, but says it had little impact on the result.

Ken McCallum says Kremlin attempted to influence vote through social media and TV reports but had little impact

The Long Sip
What happened

MI5 chief Ken McCallum confirmed Russia tried to influence the Brexit referendum through fake social media accounts and Russian-owned broadcasters RT and Sputnik.

The detail

RT and Sputnik published 261 mostly misleading articles that achieved 134 million potential page impressions, while Russian troll accounts operated largely on X around the vote.

What it means

McCallum stressed there is a big difference between what was attempted and what actually resulted, warning that debating it further risks handing the Kremlin a propaganda win.

Full story at The Guardian

What readers are saying

mele1977
McCallum's point about not letting this become a ongoing debate because it gives Russia what they want is worth remembering - if you see someone pushing this story hard now, check whether they're trying to delegitimise the result rather than actually discussing the security gap. ❤️
ChildfreeChloe
So Russia tried and failed, but we're still talking about it ten years later. That's basically their win.
Kevo
The 89up study found 261 articles from RT and Sputnik got 134 million impressions - that's the actual reach we should be focused on, not whether it changed votes. McCallum's right that the sophisticated part isn't what happened, it's how little it apparently mattered.
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