A new study by Dr Nason Maani, Deputy Director of Local Health and Global Profits (LHGP), and Professor Anna Gilmore, LHGP Director, has identified large-scale automated interference in a formal public health policy consultation.
The research examined responses submitted to the UK government's 2023 consultation on creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping. Drawing on published consultation reports and information obtained through a Freedom of Information request to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), the study explored the scale and nature of suspected bot activity within the consultation.
What the researchers found
Of the 118,756 responses received by the consultation, 90,835 (76%) were identified by DHSC as fraudulent through bot detection processes.
According to the study, almost all bot-generated responses focused on a single consultation question concerning proposed restrictions on disposable vape sales. The automated responses opposed the restrictions and reported social media as the source through which respondents had learned about the consultation.
The researchers found that removing the bot-generated submissions substantially changed the apparent balance of opinion, with 4 out of 5 valid respondents supporting such restrictions.
Addressing an important evidence gap
Public consultations are increasingly used by the government to inform health policy and regulatory decisions. While limited, previous research has shown that social bots have been used to spread health misinformation on social media platforms, including content promoting e-cigarettes. However, evidence of bot activity within formal government health policy consultations has been lacking.
By examining responses to the UK government's 2023 smokefree generation and youth vaping consultation, the study provides the first peer-reviewed evidence of large-scale automated interference in a formal public health consultation and demonstrates how such activity can alter the apparent balance of opinion on proposed health policies.
Why this research is important
- It provides the first documented evidence of large-scale automated interference in a formal public health consultation
- It found that 76% of responses to the UK smokefree generation consultation were identified as bot-generated
- The bot responses overwhelmingly targeted proposals to restrict disposable vape sales
- Excluding fraudulent responses reversed the apparent balance of opinion on that policy question
- The findings highlight the need for robust safeguards to protect the integrity of public consultations
Read the full paper in Tobacco Control and an article covering this in The Guardian.