Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Soc Dems say Bluesky accounts posting under their names are fake

MULTIPLE IRISH POLITICAL parties have confirmed that accounts posting on the platform Bluesky under their names or the names of their TDs are not legitimate.

Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Social Democrats and Aontú all confirmed to The Journal that accounts on the platform which feature their names and logos are not associated with them.

Fine Gael has also confirmed the existence of a fake profile of Taoiseach Simon Harris, which has recently shared a message that warns users about bogus accounts “set up to spread election misinformation”. 

And two accounts purporting to be Tánaiste Micheál Martin have also been confirmed as fake by Fianna Fáil.

It comes as the number of users on Bluesky has surged in recent weeks, with more than 20 million people now reported to be using the platform.

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The platform was developed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey in 2019, is similar in appearance to X (formerly Twitter), and is proving to be a popular destination for people who no longer wish to be on Elon Musk’s site.

However, the upsurge in users has also led to verification issues after a number of impersonation accounts were set up which purported to belong to celebrities and politicians.

Bluesky allows users to have domains (website addresses) as their handles, which it anticipates could act as a verification tool for journalists, athletes and public figures who have a company’s website in their handle.

The feature is different to other social media platforms, where verified users are usually indicated with a blue tick (though this feature can be purchased on X since Elon Musk bought the company).

Most Bluesky users do not currently have domain names as their handles, and fake accounts of Irish political parties and figures have proliferated since last week.

The accounts tend to have party logos as their profile images, and descriptions that are almost identical to legitimate versions of the relevant party accounts on other platforms.

They also post messages that are on message and contain images or videos of general election candidates, making them nearly impossible to distinguish as fake.

A Fianna Fáil spokesperson confirmed that the party is not currently active on Bluesky, despite two accounts featuring its name posting on the platform.

They also said that two accounts posting under the name of party leader Micheál Martin are not legitimate (one of which has since been deleted). 

“Neither Fianna Fáil or Micheál Martin have official accounts on Bluesky,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

A Fine Gael spokesperson likewise said that an account posting under its name was not legitimate.

Another account posting as Taoiseach Simon Harris was also confirmed as a fake.

The account posted a message which warns people about bogus accounts, saying in a post on 26 November: “We have been made aware of a number of false accounts started on this platform claiming to be members of Fine Gael, or official party pages.”

It adds: “Please exercise caution when engaging with potentially fake pages, which have been set up to spread election misinformation by opposition members.”

A spokesperson for the Social Democrats said that one account posting under the party’s name was fake and had been reported to Bluesky, although they also said the party had set up a legitimate account which had not yet posted anything at the time of publication.

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín also confirmed that an account posting under the name of his party was fake.

The phenomenon is not unique to Ireland, with fake accounts of UK politicians also appearing on Bluesky last week. 

However, a number of Irish parties also confirmed that they were now posting on the platform, along with some of their TDs.

The Green Party confirmed to The Journal that accounts posting under its name and as its leader Roderic O’Gorman are legitimate.

Labour also confirmed that an account under its name and another account belonging to its leader Ivana Bacik were genuine.

Fine Gael said a second account belonging to Taoiseach Simon Harris was legitimate. 

Sinn Féin was also asked whether an account posting to Bluesky under its name was genuine; however, no response was received by the time of publication.