Guess this is only hitting the news now because it's part of a book on Varadkar but this story has been out in the wilderness for some time in advance.
Quote:
Mr Varadkar is alleged to have floated the idea while he was contesting the Fine Gael leadership race.
The claim - included in a new biography of Mr Varadkar - has been described as "shocking stuff" by Fianna Fáil TD James Lawless.
Mr Lawless claimed that suggesting "fake accounts should be deliberately deployed for political advantage" could amount to "electoral fraud" and "fake news".
Last night,
a spokesman for Mr Varadkar insisted "the alleged course of action wasn't taken and was never seriously considered".
A detailed account of the Fine Gael leadership contest is included in a new biography - 'Leo: A Very Modern Taoiseach' - by Irish Independent Deputy Political Editor Philip Ryan and Government adviser Niall O'Connor.
The book outlines how Mr Varadkar brought a team together to make his bid to succeed former Taoiseach Enda Kenny as Fine Gael leader. It describes how the campaign's social media strategy was devised.
The book says: "At one point, Varadkar floated the idea to one TD of creating anonymous accounts to make positive comments under online stories on popular news websites. It's unclear how far the proposal was pushed."
Last night, Mr Lawless accused Mr Varadkar of being "obsessed with spin". He claimed the allegation in the book shows why his proposed Online Advertising and Social Media Bill has stalled. Mr Lawless accused Mr Varadkar of offering "lame excuses" for refusing to support the bill.
Read More here -
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/p ... 75799.htmlStripping out the politicing by Lawless, that's a
nicely crafted side step = No explicit denial, as of yet, that Leo Varadkar actually made these comments.
Fascinating insight all the same. Thanks Mr Spokesman!
