Key facts
- Russia attempted to interfere in the Brexit referendum through social media and television reports.
- MI5 head Ken McCallum confirmed the interference attempts but stated they were not sophisticated or successful.
- Russian-owned broadcasters RT and Sputnik published biased anti-migration and anti-EU reports around the referendum.
- Fake social media accounts, or trolls, also attempted to influence the referendum result.
- Studies have previously cited Russian media and state-linked accounts' involvement in the Brexit referendum.
- McCallum cautioned that continued debate could give Russia a propaganda victory.
Russia did attempt to interfere in the Brexit referendum through social media and television reports, the head of Britain's domestic intelligence agency, MI5, confirmed on Tuesday. Ken McCallum stated that while interference was attempted, it was neither sophisticated nor successful in impacting the outcome of the 2016 vote.
McCallum endorsed comments made by Andy Burnham, who had raised the issue in recent days. He noted that Russian-owned English-language broadcasters RT and Sputnik "came in pretty strongly around the time of the referendum" with biased anti-migration and anti-EU reports. Additionally, there was an attempted interference through "trolls" – fake social media accounts, primarily on X, aiming to influence the result.
McCallum cautioned that continuing to debate the issue could provide Russia with a propaganda victory, suggesting that adversaries benefit when such topics cause division. He expressed concern that prolonged discussion would delight Russian trolls who, despite their limited impact, would be pleased to be in the headlines again.
Studies released after the Brexit vote have previously cited similar interference attempts. The digital campaign group 89up reported that RT and Sputnik published 261 misleading articles focusing on immigration and anti-EU themes, reaching 134 million potential page impressions. Other research indicated a "troll army" of state-linked Russian accounts tweeting about the referendum, with estimates of active accounts varying widely.
Downing Street had previously confirmed that Russia interfered in the 2019 general election and suggested it was "inconceivable that they didn’t in 2016." However, the Prime Minister's spokesperson clarified that the government does not believe the interference was successful in the 2016 referendum.