LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Conservative Party has been accused of trying to deceive voters by changing the name of its press office Twitter channel to “factcheckUK” during Tuesday’s night’s debate between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Twitter says it will take “decisive corrective action” against similar strategies in the future.
Will Moy, chief executive of the London-based fact-checking website Full Fact, told the BBC: “It was an attempt to mislead voters, and I think it is inappropriate and misleading for a serious political party to behave that way.”
The official Conservative Party press office Twitter channel reverted to the name “CCHQ Press” after the debate. Under the name “factcheckUK,” it posted a series of tweets supporting Johnson while the debate was in progress.