UK POLITICS: Election debate: Conservatives criticised for renaming Twitter profile 'factcheckUK'

Election debate: Conservatives criticised for renaming Twitter profile 'factcheckUK'
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Málaga Technology Centre

Dave Lee North, BBC America technology reporter, has reported that Social networking site Twitter has said the Conservative Party misled the public when it rebranded one of its Twitter accounts.

The @CCHQPress account - the Tory press office - was renamed "factcheckUK" for Tuesday's live TV debate involving Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn. After the debate, the account reverted to its original branding.


Twitter said it would take "decisive corrective action" if a similar stunt was attempted again. But the firm does not appear to have taken any action over this particular incident.

"Twitter is committed to facilitating healthy debate throughout the UK general election," a spokesperson said.

"We have global rules in place that prohibit behaviour that can mislead people, including those with verified accounts. Any further attempts to mislead people by editing verified profile information - in a manner seen during the UK Election Debate - will result in decisive corrective action."

The Tories were earlier criticised by genuine fact-checking agency Full Fact, which said in a statement: "It is inappropriate and misleading for the Conservative press office to rename their twitter account 'factcheckUK' during this debate.

"Please do not mistake it for an independent fact checking service such as FullFact, FactCheck or FactCheckNI."

Conservative Party chairman James Cleverly defended the rebranding. He told BBC Newsnight: "The Twitter handle of the CCHQ press office remained CCHQPress, so it's clear the nature of the site."

 By Dave Lee BBC North America technology reporter