But look a bit closer, it appears intentionally bad.
1. This beautiful and thought provoking piece of 21st century art was shared widely in anti-EU Facebook groups, Twitter replies to journalists and elsewhere online, in 2016.
Is it an untrackable, untraceable, Cambridge Analytica-style, fake?
But look a bit closer, it appears intentionally bad.
Literate enough to spell “Sovereignty” correctly.
Cambridge Analytica boasted on hidden camera that they created “untraceable, untrackable” social media themes, memes and propaganda that spread.
“We put the information into the bloodstream of the internet and watch it grow.
Give it a little push.
This stuff infiltrates the online community and expands.
With no branding.
So it’s unattributable, untrackable"
It’s impossible to find out unless you work at Facebook or Google.
But there are some strange clues.
TinEye reverse image search shows that it was first saved by their web crawler in 2016.
A few days before the EU referendum in the UK.
With the username “niteoflight”.
Note the strange spelling and grammar; ‘re_election'
(A table of Johnny's most shared accounts on Twitter)
Unusually for a pro-Brexit British man named Johnny, he often used “Beeter”.
An obscure Japanese Twitter app, to Tweet.
But probably just a random weird guy, from the UK?
Who can’t really speak English.
Who likes Russian government TV more than any other news outlet.
Who uses a defunct, obscure Japanese language Twitter app, to post to Twitter.
But searching back further, the earliest example of this meme that we could find was not on Google, Twitter or Facebook.
The first evidence of it anywhere online, is from a guy called “Martin Corner”. Who posted the meme on Russian Facebook (VK), on the 3rd of June 2016.
The people who liked the 40 YEARS EU RULE post on VK purport to be English neo-Nazis and fascists, if their posts on VK are to be believed.
He loves Hitler and IKEA candles.
But hates the EU.
Who’d have thought.
Seeded it online via various “independent” groups and activists, who spread it so that it multiplied across social media without being tracked back to the creators.
More from Brexit
On this, I think it’s highly unlikely to occur in the timeframe given. For several reasons, I don’t think it’s realistic for Scotland to secede, and then join the EU, in 9 years.
For that, thanks goes to Brexit.
A thread because why not...
Two important dates: March 2016 and January 1st 2021.
Firstly, prior to the 2014 referendum, the Nationalists proposed a date of March 2016 to secede.
Secondly, today - the end completion of Brexit five-and-a-half years after Cameron’s majority in 2015.
Brexit has demonstrated many things, primarily that splitting unions is not easy. The UKs membership of the EU was 47 years and by the end it was not at the heart of the EU. The Union has existed for over 300 as a unitary state.
Dividing a unitary state, like the UK, will not be easy. Frankly, it will make Brexit look simple. Questions of debt, currency, defence, and more will need to be resolved ... something not addressed with Brexit.
Starting with debt. Scotland will end up with its proportionate share of the UKs national debt. It’s not credible to suggest otherwise. Negotiating what is proportionate won’t be easy when both sides disagree.
It’s importance will be seen shortly.
For that, thanks goes to Brexit.
A thread because why not...
On the current trajectory, I think this is likely to be the map of Europe of 2030. pic.twitter.com/65i1A8CiP8
— Ben Judah (@b_judah) January 1, 2021
Two important dates: March 2016 and January 1st 2021.
Firstly, prior to the 2014 referendum, the Nationalists proposed a date of March 2016 to secede.
Secondly, today - the end completion of Brexit five-and-a-half years after Cameron’s majority in 2015.
Brexit has demonstrated many things, primarily that splitting unions is not easy. The UKs membership of the EU was 47 years and by the end it was not at the heart of the EU. The Union has existed for over 300 as a unitary state.
Dividing a unitary state, like the UK, will not be easy. Frankly, it will make Brexit look simple. Questions of debt, currency, defence, and more will need to be resolved ... something not addressed with Brexit.
Starting with debt. Scotland will end up with its proportionate share of the UKs national debt. It’s not credible to suggest otherwise. Negotiating what is proportionate won’t be easy when both sides disagree.
It’s importance will be seen shortly.
