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22 Aug, 5 tweets, 2 min read
EXCL A video-sharing platform reported to regulators for hosting hateful, violent & anti-semitic content is seeing a surge in activity aimed at Scottish audiences, incl Covid-19 disinformation and extremists targeting BAME politicians. Me for @scotonsunday scotsman.com/news/politics/…
The material on BitChute includes well worn QAnon conspiracy theories tied to Scotland's vaccine programme. One claims future mass fatalities from Covid-19 will be incinerated at Amazon owned facilities. Another claims 900+ Scots are dying a month due to vaccines.
There is also a slew of videos targeting prominent BAME figures in Scottish life. @HumzaYousaf is the target of several. One has since been removed and flagged for "incitement to hatred." Mr Yousad has called for regulators to take action, and warned of online radicalisation.
BitChute and other VSPs have been subject to regulation since last November, but Ofcom's powers are limited. It cannot compel sites to remove individual content, and disinformation isn't part of the regulatory framework. It has been in talks with BitChute to improve moderation.
Meanwhile, BitChute, which told me it is a "politically neutral company", goes from strength to strength. Its site received more than 40m visits last month. Nearly a tenth of those were from the UK.

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More from @MartynMcL

Martyn McLaughlin Profile picture
5 Sep
EXCL: Environmental groups have condemned emissions at the COP26 summit venues, which exceed 6,600 tonnes of CO2 a year. Two venues have the second lowest possible energy efficiency rating, with legally binding improvements yet to be carried out. Thread 👇scotsman.com/news/politics/…
The UK Govt, which holds the COP26 presidency, describe the SEC buildings as “state of the art” - a characterisation energy assessors would struggle to recognise. The SEC conference centre and the Armadillo scored F on a sliding scale of A to G.
The annual CO2 emissions of the SEC conference centre alone - the oldest and largest of the COP26 venues on Glasgow’s waterfront - exceed 3,400 tonnes. Nine years ago, assessors advised its owners to consider investigating the use of low zero carbon technologies.
Read 24 tweets
Martyn McLaughlin Profile picture
7 May
NEW: Early individual constituency votes for regional lists indicate that Alex Salmond's Alba Party is on course for electoral oblivion, with a slew of other fringe parties failing to cut through with the electorate. My analysis for @TheScotsman #sp21 scotsman.com/news/politics/…
In Aberdeen Donside, the party registered just 2.1 per cent of the list vote, and 2 per cent in Angus North and Mearns. Mr Salmond has put himself as Alba's top candidate in the NE list. If these numbers are replicated region-wide, it is not good news for the former FM.
These numbers, however, are positively buoyant compared to other results for Alba. It took just 0.8 per cent of the list vote in Orkney, 1.3 per cent in Hamilton, and 1.5 per cent in Clydebank and Milngavie.
Read 5 tweets
Martyn McLaughlin Profile picture
1 May
EXCL Donald Trump’s flagship international resort claimed up to half a million pounds in UK taxpayers’ money via a Covid-19 job fund - despite making scores of redundancies during the pandemic. Union officials are demanding a govt investigation. Thread 👇scotsman.com/news/politics/…
Trump’s UK firms have received as much as £575,000 via the UK Govt’s job retention scheme, though the data compiled and published by HMRC to date only spans Dec ‘20 and Jan ‘21, meaning the total claim is likely to be significantly higher.
At least £110,000 of the public funding was claimed while Trump was still in situ in the White House.
Read 14 tweets
Martyn McLaughlin Profile picture
25 Apr
EXCL: Donald Trump’s golf resorts in Scotland and Ireland charged the US Secret Service more than £17,000 for a series of previously undisclosed trips during his first full year in office. My story in today's @scotonsunday

scotsman.com/news/politics/…
The Secret Service spending records were obtained via FoI by @weareoversight and passed to me. Austin Evers, the organisation's executive director, told me the Trumps continued to "line their pockets" with public money.
The glacial rate at which US FoI requests are expedited means will likely take years before the full extent of how Trump's private biz in Scotland charged the US government becomes clear. The bill at Turnberry alone already exceeds £300k.
Read 4 tweets
Martyn McLaughlin Profile picture
18 Apr
Here is my Insight longread for @scotonsunday on the implications of Greensill capital’s collapse for Sanjeev Gupta’s Scottish steel firms and, by extension, Scottish taxpayers. Thread👇scotsman.com/news/politics/…
The potential exposure to the public purse could be circa £575m, due to the SG’s 25 year guarantee to Gupta’s Lochaber subsidiary, which will see the govt buy power its hydro plant generates in the event its smelter shuts down.
The guarantee was approved after the govt enlisted EY to carry out due diligence But seven months *after* the deal was done, the govt hired Deloitte to give advice and flag up “key risks.". Deloitte is still retained on the SG payroll, at a cost to taxpayers of around £200k.
Read 6 tweets
Martyn McLaughlin Profile picture
4 Apr
EXCL: The UK Government has been accused of turning COP26 into a “greenwashing platform” after partnering with a firm condemned by environmental groups for sourcing palm oil products from businesses accused of widespread deforestation activities. Thread👇
scotsman.com/news/politics/…
Reckitt, the government’s latest ‘top tier’ sponsor of the upcoming COP26 climate change summit, may not be a familiar name, but it owns household brands like Dettol, Vanish and Nurofen. It uses more than 134,000 tonnes of palm oil products to make its goods every year.
Its suppliers include Wilmar International, the world’s largest palm oil trader, which has been implicated in deforestation activity and human rights abuses by groups including Amnesty International.
Read 13 tweets

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