Reddit Accounts That Leaked Sensitive Documents Believed to Have Ties to Russia

A recent post published by Reddit indicates that a number of Reddit accounts were used for sharing sensitive documents regarding US/UK trade. According to the platform officials’ post published yesterday, December 6th, the accounts were believed to have ties to Russia and the country’s disinformation operation.

Shared via Reddit

The same operation was previously reported by Facebook earlier this year, in May. Back then, the reports claimed that the operation focuses on several major political topics, including the Syrian civil war, Ukraine, as well as political news throughout Europe. The 500 pages long document shared via Reddit serves as a sort of ‘proof’ that that Prime Minister Boris Johnson allegedly put the UK’s National Health Service ‘up for sale’ during trade talks. This was claimed by Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, who used the documents to prove his claims. Johnson himself denied any such claims ever since they were made.

Our NHS will not be on the table for any trade negotiations.

We’re protecting and strengthening our NHS with more investment and an Australian style, points-based immigration system. pic.twitter.com/E9zu62zjfr

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) November 27, 2019

Russia Once Again Tries to Influence Foreign Elections

Apart from this, the documents touched upon several other issues, such as food safety, food labeling, drug patents and pricing, and even several references to climate change. However, according to the documents, the UK negotiators never actually agreed to anything during the talks with the United States. Still, the leak suggests that the US wants NHS on the table, regardless of what the UK officials may have responded with. Reddit reacted to the discovery of the accounts’ ties to Russia by banning 61 of them. The biggest fear is that Moscow might be trying to meddle in foreign elections again by spreading disinformation. Meanwhile, the Labour leader continues to use the documents for attacking his opponent, which caused a lot of criticism of his moral judgment, especially since the documents’ origin emerged.

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