TROLLS, bots, hackers, propagandists and provocateurs of Russian origin have lately descended on Western democracies. The tentacles of the disinformation apparatus, thought to be rooted in the Kremlin, have been found fiddling with elections everywhere from Ukraine and Bulgaria to France and America. It is perhaps no surprise, then, that they may also have touched the Brexit campaign held in June 2016 by trying to steer social-media conversations before the referendum, as a spate of new academic research suggests. The evidence unearthed so far establishes only a small-scale effort by sources in Russia to nudge Britain towards the European Union's exit door. But new information is being dug out of online archives week by week. Theresa May, the prime minister, has accused Russia's government of "planting fake stories" to "sow discord in the West." MPS are pushing for an inquiry, which may yet reveal more meddling.
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