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AI bots were used to flood a UK government consultation on disposable vape bans with fake responses.

AIHealthcarePoliticsOct 28, 2026score 0.723 posts · 1 replies across 3 instances
The thread discusses how AI bots were used to flood a UK government consultation on disposable vape bans with fake responses, aiming to influence public health policy. This highlights concerns about AI's role in manipulating political and health decisions.

Claims

AI bots were used to flood a UK government consultation on disposable vape bans with fake responses.
Parent: AIEntity: AI botsSub-entity: disposable vape ban consultationImpact: negativeDate: Oct 28, 2026Target: AI bots were used to flood a UK government consultation on disposable vape bans with fake responses.
The UK government's consultation on the tobacco and vapes bill was significantly influenced by AI-generated responses.
Parent: Public HealthEntity: UK governmentSub-entity: tobacco and vapes billImpact: negativeDate: Oct 28, 2026Target: The UK government's consultation on the tobacco and vapes bill was significantly influenced by AI-generated responses.
AI was used to attempt to derail health policymaking in the UK through coordinated fake responses.
Parent: Political ManipulationEntity: AISub-entity: health policymakingImpact: negativeDate: Oct 28, 2026Target: AI was used to attempt to derail health policymaking in the UK through coordinated fake responses.

Source posts

@[email protected]
Automated responses to manipulate government policy. Welcome to the future. "AI bots flooded 2023 UK government consultation on disposable vapes ban." https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/oct/27/ai-bots-flooded-2023-uk-government-consultation-disposable-vapes-ban?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
13 boosts · 10 favs · 0 replies · Oct 28, 2026
@[email protected]
TL;DR: A significant 75% of responses to the UK government's consultation on a disposable vapes ban were generated by AI bots, marking a coordinated attempt to undermine health policy efforts. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/oct/27/ai-bots-flooded-2023-uk-government-consultation-disposable-vapes-ban #law #tech #legaltech ⚖️ 🤖 #autosum
0 boosts · 1 favs · 0 replies · Oct 28, 2026
#law#tech#legaltech#autosum
@[email protected]
“ #AI bots flooded a #UK government consultation with tens of thousands of fake responses in a failed attempt to stop the UK’s ban on disposable vapes. Three-quarters of all the responses to the 2023 consultation on the #tobacco and #vapes bill were machine-generated, in what is thought to be the first coordinated attempt to use AI to derail health policymaking in the UK.” https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/oct/27/ai-bots-flooded-2023-uk-government-consultation-disposable-vapes-ban
5 boosts · 0 favs · 0 replies · Oct 28, 2026
#ai#uk#tobacco#vapes
@[email protected]
AI bots flooded 2023 UK government consultation on disposable vapes ban | Vaping | The Guardian AI actively being used to nix environmental and public health policy. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/oct/27/ai-bots-flooded-2023-uk-government-consultation-disposable-vapes-ban
0 boosts · 0 favs · 1 replies · Oct 28, 2026